Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival
Located at the Blues Ranch on the Methow River in the resort town of Winthrop, Washington, the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival is a three-day event packed full of exciting national and regional entertainment for all ages. There is on-site camping, food and craft vendors, portable showers, and a beer garden. The Blues Ranch is the perfect setting for one of Washington’s finest music festivals. The Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival is the largest and longest running blues festival in the state of Washington. Over eighty thousand people have attended this event in the past thirty-plus years. Past festivals have featured such national artists as North Mississippi Allstars, Marc Broussard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Los Lobos, Larkin Poe, Los Lonely Boys, Samantha Fish, The California Honeydrops, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Johnny Winter, Royal Southern Brotherhood featuring Cyril Neville and Devon Allman, Allen Stone, The Holmes Brothers, Roy Rogers, Janiva Magness, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Too Slim & the Taildraggers, Jimmie Vaughan, Booker T., Commander Cody, Little Feat, Mavis Staples, Bo Diddley, JJ Cale with Christine Lakeland, Bobby Rush, Susan Tedeschi, Koko Taylor, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Tower of Power, Delbert McClinton, Elvin Bishop, Little Milton, Tommy Castro, Eric Burdon, Chubby Carrier, Charlie Musselwhite, The Blasters, Buckwheat Zydeco, James Harman and many others. The festival has rightfully become a destination event with fans traveling from all over the world to enjoy and celebrate the Blues.
WINTHROP MUSIC ASSOCIATION
The Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival is brought to you by Winthrop Music Association (WMA), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization formed in 2005 whose mission is to BUILD COMMUNITY THROUGH MUSIC. We believe that music is a catalyst for joy, connection, and healing. Our vision is to offer audiences, musicians, volunteers, and staff a profound and unique experience of diverse world-class music, community, and natural beauty;
and for the Winthrop Rhythm and Blues Festival and the Winthrop Music Association
to be vital partners in creating and sustaining a vibrant cultural and economic ecosystem in the Methow Valley.
We look forward to another great year and hope to see YOU at the next Annual Winthrop Rhythm and Blues Festival!!
The WMA Board currently includes:
- Rick Northcott, president
- Jimmy Smith, vice-president
- Dave Swenson, treasurer
- Peter Dammann, secretary
- Don Ashford
- Sarah Jo Lightner
- Bart Northcott
- Matt Pratt
- Erika Olsen, ex-officio
PRIVACY POLICY
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Winthrop Music Association Giving
The Winthrop Music Association Board of Directors, in keeping with its mission of promoting arts, culture and social programs in the Methow Valley and beyond, is pleased to announce that it is providing grants this year to the following organizations, support made possible in part by your contributions:
- The Cove Food Bank ($5,000), which provides assistance to people in need in the Methow Valley. For almost a decade the Friday night concert has been a fundraiser for The Cove.
- Tommy Zbyszewski Methow Valley Education Foundation scholarship ($1000), honoring the local firefighter lost during the 2015 wildfires
- Room One ($2,000), a multi-faceted social service organization located in the Methow Valley.
- Methow Valley School District Music Program ($1,500).
- Methow Housing Trust ($1,000) which develops and preserves affordable, quality housing for residents of the Methow Valley.
- Washington Blues Society Musician Relief Program ($750).
Since its formation in 2005, the non-profit Winthrop Music Association has provided more than $100,000 in support of these and other organizations. We thank you for your support of this festival, the musicians, the vendors and the Methow Valley.
Gratitude to our Partners and Volunteers: The success of the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival would not have been possible without the unwavering support of our partners and the dedication of our volunteers. Their contributions and hard work were instrumental in making this year’s event a resounding success. Thank you to all our partners!. Please consider visiting these businesses when in the area:
- Avalon Music of Wenatchee
- Freestone Inn
- Hank’s Harvest Foods
- House of Cannabis
- Inn at Mazama
- The Wine Shed
- Virginian Resort
- Valley Hospitality Services
- And special thanks to the family of David R Schwartz
