Overview The Chicago Blues Festival is the largest free blues festival in the world, produced by DCASE over four days in early June. It opens with a night at the Ramova Theatre in Bridgeport, fills Millennium Park for three days of music on four stages, and closes with a Sunday blues program at the Maxwell Street market. Every Millennium Park performance is free. On site Evening headliners play the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, facing a seating bowl and the Great Lawn. Side stages run from noon: the Visit Mississippi Crossroads Stage, the tented Rosa's Lounge Stage on the North Promenade, and Wrigley Square's Next Generation of Blues stage for school and youth bands. A free blues trolley links Maxwell Street and the park. Outside alcohol is not allowed, but drinks are sold on site. Audience Blues fans over 65 make up a bigger share of this crowd than of any other Millennium Park event, and about a third of attendees are likely return visitors. One in five comes with children. The festival also draws blues travelers from out of town, and Mississippi's tourism agencies sponsor a stage to meet them. Talent and Influencers The festival has presented Mavis Staples, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Koko Taylor, Etta James, Keith Richards and Christone "Kingfish" Ingram. Recent bills featured Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band, Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Branch, Ruthie Foster and a Women in Blues tribute, alongside Chicago club regulars from Rosa's Lounge. Track record The festival has run for more than four decades and bills Chicago as the Blues Capital of the World. Attendance jumped by nearly a quarter last year, and the lineup keeps a slot for the next generation through the Wrigley Square youth stage and the Maxwell Street market set. Brand presence Stage partners give brands a model: Visit Mississippi and Rosa's Lounge each host a named stage. NRG Energy, the Chicago Transit Authority, Millennium Garages and the Millennium Park Foundation back the festival, with WDCB 90.9 FM and WVON 1690 as radio partners. Sponsors can take activation and sampling space on the park grounds under DCASE's permit process.