Ready for a wild weekend

IT'S HERE, THE annual Q-Fest in Washington Park, and we are really excited to be in the thick of things at Fifth and Maine.

Artists are already arriving and setting up tents. We are having our noon blues show under the QU tent just west of the gazebo, with the fabulous Bella Song performing, and James Armstrong takes over tonight for the Blues In The District. It's going to be a bit cooler and hopefully the rain stays away.

We love this event and it's good for us. That being said, Maine Street will be closed between Fourth and Sixth starting at noon today. We are not happy with the streets shutting down early - with Blues In The District tonight, you are really cutting off access to the park, businesses and a lot of the park, and it will be a bit of a cluster down here tonight, so please come early and be patient.

Somebody setting up said something about this being about art this weekend, not about blues. Well, this isn't true. Music is art, no matter what the form. And we have tons of talented performers in the gazebo this weekend, all local and all very talented. The street party tomorrow night is right in front of the store on Maine Street and will be off the hook fun.

Jared & The Gentlemen, a Quincy band, opens at 6 p.m. The headliner is from St. Louis and called Griffin and the Gargoyles. Once again there are some who suggest we should only have local talent for a big event like this. I could not disagree more - if we get a chance to see a killer band in the street downtown, it's a great thing, and we intend to enjoy ourselves to the hilt.

So, see you downtown for the party!