The Blues fest, now in its 29th year, is picking up and moving from its longtime location at Cal State University Long Beach and setting up shop seaside. The two-day bash makes its debut at the Rainbow Lagoon, adjacent downtown to the Long Beach Marina, during this year's event August 30-31.
Along with Berry, artists on the books August 30 include John Mayall, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Pinetop Perkins, Roy Rogers and Roy Young.
The next day, openers for Sly And The Family Stone include Booker T. Jones, Charlie Musselwhite, Joe Louis Walker, Ana Popovic and Baby Stone.
The event will benefit the publicly supported KKJZ-FM, a local radio station that has been playing jazz and blues since 1981.
Several VIP packages, all of which include a donation to benefit the station, are available.
The Buddy Pack, which includes two VIP weekend passes, parking, food and beverages, runs at $300; the Platinum Pass, which includes four VIP weekend passes, VIP parking, food and beverages, is $800; the Backstage Pass, which includes four backstage weekend passes, VIP parking, food and beverages, is $1,650; and the Ultimate Backstage Pass, which includes four backstage weekend passes, a reserved seating area, VIP parking, food and beverages and hotel or transportation runs at $5,000.
Advance single-day tickets and weekend passes are available at Ticketmaster.com.
VIP packages are available at JazzAndBlues.org.