Giving Hunger the Blues at the 11th Annual San Diego Blues Festival, Saturday, Sept. 11

The AimLoan.com San Diego Blues Festival Returns at 100% Capacity on Saturday, Sept. 11 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. to Raise Vital Funds for San Diego Food Bank and North County Food Bank chapterThe AimLoan.com San Diego Blues Festival is returning to the downtown San Diego waterfront on Saturday, Sept. 11 for its eleventh year. The festival brings nine talented blues acts from across the country into one venue for a day of good music, good food and good deeds.Larkin Poe to Headline This Year’s San Diego Blues Festival

Grammy-nominated sister act, Larkin Poe, to headline 2021 AimLoan.com San Diego Blues Festival.

This year’s Blues Fest will feature nine musical acts on two stages including its headliner, Grammy-nominated sister act, Larkin Poe. In addition, festival guests will hear the musical stylings of Rick Estrin & the Nightcats, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Aki Kumar, Nikki Hill Band, Backtrack Blues Band, Tia Carroll, The Fremonts and Tracy Lee Nelson.No matter who takes the stage in September, it will surely be a moment to be treasured by all in attendance as the community transitions back to enjoying in-person events again.”The AimLoan.com San Diego Blues Festival is a fun, family-friendly event that was tremendously missed this past year,” said San Diego Blues Festival producer, Michael Kinsman. “We produced a virtual event in 2020 to continue raising vital funds for the San Diego Food Bank, during the pandemic, when they needed it most. We accomplished that, but we are excited to be back in action this year at 100% capacity!”In addition to bringing top-notch blues artists to the San Diego community, the annual event has an even bigger purpose each year – to support the critical hunger-relief programs of the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank and its North County Food Bank chapter.COVID-19 Response and the San Diego Food BankSince the pandemic reached the San Diego community back in March of 2020, the Food Bank experienced a sharp increase in demand for its services. They went from feeding 350,000 people per month to 600,000 people, on average. With the support of a steadfast network of more than 500 partners with feeding programs, the Food Bank looked for innovative ways to enhance and improve the efficiency of its existing food distributions to meet the increase in demand. One of the ways they did this is by creating the Super Pantry Program.According to Food Bank staff, the Super Pantry Program, which consists of 35 high-volume distribution sites strategically located throughout the county, is going to be instrumental in maintaining operations post-pandemic as they anticipate seeing the demand continue in the months ahead as families continue needing support to help make ends meet.

“Since the pandemic hit the region more than a year ago, the Food Bank and our nonprofit distribution partners have seen an unprecedented amount of households visiting sites to pick up food to bring back home. Even as the economy reopens, we don’t expect the demand for our services to go down anytime soon,” stated the Food Bank’s Vice President of Operations, Vanessa Ruiz.”Families who were impacted by the pandemic in different ways are still working on rebuilding their lives. The Food Bank and our network of nonprofit partners are here to make sure no one has to make that tough choice between paying bills and providing food for themselves and their families.”

Food Bank volunteers will be on site at the festival collecting donations of nonperishable food items.

On the day of the event, festival guests are encouraged to bring donations of nonperishable food items like jars of unopened peanut butter, canned meats, canned fish, canned vegetables, canned soups, pasta, oatmeal, and other staple pantry items to place in donation bins outside the front entrance.Tickets for the festival start at $40 online and will be $50 at the front gate on the day of the event. Children, under the age of 12, receive free entry with one paid adult general admission ticket. All proceeds benefit the Food Bank. For more information and to purchase tickets online, visit SDBluesFest.com.