Blues Fest Sings the Blues

The  curtain has come down on the Riverhead Blues Festival.

The popular event will not take place by the Peconic Riverfront as usual this year, Bob Barta, president of the board of the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall, said Thursday.

But, Barta said, the show might still go on -- in a new, indoor format, possibly as a series of music events.

"We're not going to do the classic, downtown, by-the-waterfront event this year," Barta said, adding that he plans to issue a formal statement in the coming days.

The board of directors of the Vail-Leavitt, he said, just came to the conclusion to nix the festival in the past day or two.

"A number of factors," Barta said, led to the decision. "We didn't have the financial resources we were accustomed to," he said. Last year's Blues Fest, scheduled on the same June weekend as the Strawberry Festival in Mattituck, "lost money. We dug ourselves out of that pretty well, but we didn't have the war chest we were accustomed to."

Other issues, Barta said, included discussions that had been held concerning moving the event to the northside parking lot downtown.

The move could have had "an impact on the Suffolk Theater, where they're trying to get things going," Barta said."It seemed more appropriate to hold the Blues Festival in the traditional southside parking lot, where we could show off the Vail-Leavitt to its best advantage."

Another factor in the decision involved a change of dates. Initially, the plan was to schedule the Blues Festival for the end of June, but there were already a number of conflicting events scheduled.

"Our next best bet was to move out of the summer into September. But once we started exploring that, the board felt we  couldn't financially take the risk -- as we move further toward storm and hurricane season. We were  still stinging after last year. And we didn’t have enough of a war chest to do all the publicity, to pay the initial fees to hire headliner acts -- and, in addition to normal insurance, we were looking at weather insurance, as well, to be able to ensure weren’t going to get thoroughly beat up. All it would take is one good fall storm and we could make last yer’s losses look small."

In light of all the factors involved, the decision was made to bow out of the Blues Fest, Barta said.

He added that he was "very happy" with members of the Riverhead town board who reached out and did their best to advocate for the festival and encourage efforts to keep it alive.

"We feel like we've had general support from Town Hall. That was not an issue. There's been a sort of perception in the past that's lingered from issues of many years ago -- but that was not the case this year."

Moving forward, Barta said, the Vail-Leavitt board is now weighing options as to how to proceed. Ideas include a series of much smaller, in-house events. "By doing it inside, it means we're weather-proofing the events," Barta said. "We have complete control over what we're offering -- over pricing and all those things."

No final decision has yet been made on the types of events or dates; the board will meet to discuss the future in early June, Barta said.

On a happier note, on June 28, the Vail-Leavitt will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its grand reopening, he said.

Are you sad that the Blues Festival is but a memory this year? Share your thoughts in the comments section.