CHARLESTON, W.Va. — FestivALL will finish off its final weekend with music, food and spirits. Blues, Brews and BBQ takes place Friday night and on Saturday it’s Wine and All That Jazz. Both take place on the front lawn at the University of Charleston.
Margaret Lieberman, the executive director of Fund For the Arts, said the setting couldn’t be more perfect.
“You can watch the sun go down while enjoying your favorite legal beverage and listen to absolutely fabulous live music,” Lieberman said.
The two events have grown since becoming part of FestivALL. What used to be local events have become a favorite region-wide.
“We started receiving ticket orders back in March. We’re getting them from all over,” said Lieberman. “We have many out of state orders. We’ve been mailing tickets for the past couple months to Pennsylvania, Georgia to North Carolina.”
Blues, Brews and BBQ will feature the Nighthawks, Rick Estrin & the Nightcats, Samantha Fish and the Carpenter Ants. Wine and All That Jazz has an impressive lineup including the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Red Baraat. Lieberman said that’s a group you don’t want to miss.
“Many of their instruments are Pakistani. There’s also a sousaphone. The guy playing the sousaphone is leaping up and down inside the sousaphone which has to be an athletic feat apart from a musical one,” Lieberman laughed.
The wine at Wine and All That Jazz comes from West Virginia vineyards.
Lieberman said there’s a benefit to having the events one night and then the next.
“We realized a two-for was the way to go once we put up all the tents and done all the preparation. It was a lot easier to run them back to back, then have Sunday to take everything down again,” according to Lieberman.
All the proceeds from the two events will go to the Fund For the Arts which helps finance arts projects in the Kanawha Valley.