Ottawa Bluesfest

Ottawa Bluesfest
Aerial view of the 2007 Bluesfest
Genre	Blues, pop and rock
Dates	July
Location(s)	Ottawa, Ontario

The Ottawa Bluesfest is an annual outdoor music festival that takes place each July in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. While mainly focused on blues at the start, the festival has increasingly showcased mainstream pop and rock acts in recent years. The Bluesfest has become the largest blues festival in Canada and the second largest in North America.

Since its inception, the festival has been managed by executive and artistic director Mark Monahan. The organization also manages CityFolk Festival (2011-) and the Ontario Festival of Small Halls.

In 2002, the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest won the Best Event Award from the Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority and in 2003 the organization received the Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) award for arts education from the Memphis Blues Foundation. Mark Monahan is a past recipient of the Toronto Blues Society's Blues with a Feeling award. In December 2011, Bluesfest reached a five-year sponsorship deal with RBC Royal Bank to ensure its financial stability. Henceforth, the event will be known as the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest.

The festival was first held in 1994 at Majors Hill Park with the performance of Clarence Clemons, attracting 5,000 spectators. The following year the festival attracted larger crowds with entertainers like John Hiatt and Buddy Guy. In 1996, 25,000 fans attended the Bluesfest to see Robert Cray, Los Lobos and others. It was then that the Mitel corporation became the first major sponsor of the event. In 1997, the festival was moved to Confederation Park to provide more space for the increasing number of fans to see musicians such as Dr. John and Little Feat. In 1998, over 80,000 people showed up for the festival, which coincided with Canada Day.Bell Mobility and CIBC Wood Gundy joined the list of sponsors. In 1999, the festival was moved to LeBreton Flats. The Bluesfest became a registered charitable organization while attracting over 95,000 fans. The Royal Canadian Mint became a sponsor. Cisco Systems became the Bluesfest Title Sponsor in 2001, while the Ottawa Citizen and the National Post became Presenting Sponsors. In 2002, Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest moved to Festival Plaza in downtown Ottawa and 200,000 fans.