ALEXANDRIA BAY, New York (WWNY) – With a strum of the guitar and the tap of the drums, music from String of Pearls rang in opening night of Blues in the Bay.
It’s an end of Summer festival organized by the Alexandria Bay Chamber of Commerce.
“Michael John Cavallario started this 20 years ago. As you can see, this is our 20th anniversary and I hopped on board with him and I have taken over since he has retired, but he still does a lot with the event itself,” said Mary Compeau, President of the Alexandria Bay Chamber of Commerce.
Because events like this couldn’t happen in 2020 due to COVID-19, the Chamber of Commerce had to push off it’s two decade long tradition to 2021.
It was a welcomed site for these Rochester regulars:
“We come up for the blues festival, it’s about our 13th year at least, we have a riot, we have a lot of fun,” said Sam Nasso.
“Getting away from Rochester, just hanging out, being with friends and enjoying good blues music,” said Rob Richards.
As the band played, there were plenty of drinks being poured and people hitting the dance floor. They are enjoying the start of Labor Day weekend, and the last days of the Summer travel season.
But this is only night one, many are saying they will be making more than one appearance.
“Yes lovey, I’ll be all around town, everybody will know my name. I’ll be like Mary Tyler Moore,” said attendee Marey Carey of Fairport, New York.
The festivities continue through the rest of the holiday weekend, wrapping up on Monday afternoon with an all-star jam hosted by the Double Barrel Blues Band.
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