Lebanon Blues Festival returns for 24th year

Presented by the Lebanon Optimist Club, the 24th annual Lebanon Blues Festival is expected to attract thousands of guests to Historic Downtown Lebanon soon.

The event is Aug. 4-5, free to attend and open to the public.

“Normally, we bring in a couple big acts from Chicago, Memphis or New Orleans, but for the last two or three years, the people that come to our festival have been asking for more local bands. So, this year we decided to make it a homegrown show,” said Cathy Feinauer, president of the Lebanon Optimist Club.

All of the bands and talent have at least one member who has a tie to the Greater Cincinnati-Dayton area.

Optimist International is a worldwide organization with more than 2,500 clubs locally, like the Lebanon Optimist Club, which is a civic club similar to Rotary and Kiwanis.

“We are a similar organization. The difference is most of those other organizations have endowments that keep them going, whereas the Optimists do not. Every year, we start out with no money because we gave it all away. So, we work to build funds to give money away for the next year,” Feinauer said.

The purpose of the Optimist Club’s is to support youth, law enforcement and respect for law, and to promote patriotism, she said.

“Other than the Carriage Parade that the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce puts on, our Blues Festival is the largest festival in Lebanon. It’s hard to know how many people you have when it’s a free festival, but we estimate 20,000 to 30,000 people come out every year for the Lebanon Blues Festival,” said Feinauer.

In addition to performances from top blues musicians, the festival will also feature over 20 food vendors, and a deluxe beer garden featuring craft beers, wine, and seltzers. Mechanic Street will be lined with artisans and crafters. There will be a classic car cruise-in on Broadway on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. presented by Run of the Mill StreetRodders. (No registration required, no entry fee to participate.)

“This is the first time we’ve done a cruise-in, so we’re excited about the cruise-in this year,” Feinauer said.

The event will be live-streamed in its entirety on the Lebanon Blues Festival Facebook page and YouTube channel.

The Lebanon Blues Festival is the primary fundraiser for the Lebanon Optimist Club and it is entirely produced by volunteers.

“One hundred percent of the money that we raise is donated back through a grant process to different organizations in Lebanon and Warren County. Since we’ve started this festival, we’ve given $750,000 back to youth-serving organizations in the county,” Feinauer said.