For nearly three decades, Sudbury’s downtown was alive with the sound of the blues on the Saturday before Father’s Day, as it put on the outdoor Downtown Rotary Blues for Food concert.
A fundraiser for the Sudbury Food Bank, the last Blues for Food event was held in 2019, as it never returned following the pandemic.
The Downtown Sudbury BIA, which put on the event, faced capacity challenges following the pandemic with the retirement of its long-time former executive director, Maureen Luoma, and the death of longtime organizer and former Records on Wheels downtown music store owner Tony Anselmo.
A promo run on Sudbury.com prior to the 2019 event said it had raised more than $320,000 to date at that time and collected more than 69 tonnes of food for the Sudbury Food Bank.
But plans are underway to bring Blues for Food back in 2026, on its traditional date on the Saturday before Father’s Day.
The announcement was made June 14 at a concert held outside of the YMCA building on Durham Street by long-time Blues for Food performers the Whiskey River Blues Band.
“We're really glad to see this festival start growing again, and we're looking for partners to make it a bigger and better festival next year and to keep growing it into the future and bring live music back to the streets of downtown Sudbury,” current Downtown Sudbury executive director Jeff MacIntyre told the audience at the concert.
In a press release, MacIntyre said bringing back Blues for Food “is a massive step towards our vision of Downtown Sudbury as the undisputed cultural hub of Northern Ontario.
“This isn’t just about a concert; it’s about reviving a cherished community tradition that brings people together, supports our local businesses, and creates the vibrant street atmosphere that defines a thriving city centre. It directly aligns with our mission to maximize the interests of our members by drawing residents and visitors downtown.”
To help make it all happen, MacIntyre has enlisted the help of area musician and Whiskey River Blues Band member Paul Loewenberg.
You may remember Loewenberg as the former artistic director of Northern Lights Festival Boréal and former Townehouse Tavern manager. Following the pandemic, he reinvented himself as the owner of the fishing resort Shuswap on the Nipissing.
“Of course, in 2020 we couldn't do it (Blues for Food),” he said. “We were all shut down. I lost my job presenting music. All the artists had to do Zoom concerts and stuff like that. It was a real tough time.
“But thankfully, Downtown Sudbury next year, this weekend, Blues for Food returns to Durham Street. So we wanted to create some excitement and knowledge within the community that Blues for Food is going to come back.”
Also on hand at the Blues for Food announcement June 15 was Chas Anselmo, son of the late Tony Anselmo.
Chas said his father, who died in 2023, “definitely would have a smile from ear to ear” in hearing about the revival of Blues for Food, and would be “first in line to volunteer in some shape or form.”
“This reboot, from our family's perspective, is, is something that means a lot to us in that, for my father, the whole spirit of Blues for Food was really how he sort of conducted himself in the downtown, about giving back to the community being always goal No. 1, bringing positivity to the downtown,” he said.
Downtown Sudbury is also bringing live music back to the downtown this summer through its Live and Outside summer music series, of which the Whiskey River Blues Band concert was a part, although exact details are still being worked out. The Nickel City Wind Ensemble is set to perform on June 28.
Watch the Downtown Sudbury website for more information on the Live and Outside concert series. Anyone who wishes to help in the effort to bring back Blues for Food is also asked to contact Downtown Sudbury.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.