Now that plans are in place for the inaugural Heritage Music WinterBlues Weekend in February, Bruce Wheeler is investigating whether or not additional multi-day music events would be successful in downtown Wheeling.
Wheeler, entertainment director for Roxby Development, has completed the lineup for the two-day
Winter Blues event at the McLure House. The concerts will take place within the hotel’s spacious ballroom on Feb. 11-12 and tickets for both shows plus a Sunday brunch on February 13 are only $110 and can be purchased online at https://heritage-music-bluesfest.myshopify.com/collections/winterblues.
“We are very excited for the Winter Blues, and ticket sales have already been brisk,” Wheeler said. “The capacity of the McLure ballroom is a little more than 400 people, so we’re excited that this show will take place without the weather being a factor. During the annual Heritage Bluesfest at Heritage Port, the weather always has to be a consideration just as it is for every outdoor event in downtown Wheeling.
“There are front-stage passes that are for sale, as well, and the McLure House is offering special rates for the hotel rooms for that weekend,” he revealed. “If someone who wishes to come into Wheeling for the weekend for the show and stay at the hotel, all they have to do is contact me through the website, and I will assist them with making the arrangements.”
But Wait! There Could Be More.
Wheeler will begin planning for the 21st Heritage Bluesfest that is scheduled for August 12-14 once the holiday season is complete, but he also is considering the potential success for additional events at Heritage Port during the summer months.
When the Heritage Bluesfest co-founder launched the three-day event in 2001, he also believed a folk festival and a jazz festival would work on Wheeling’s waterfront. Those two events, however, never did come to fruition.
But now, Wheeler has a couple of new ideas.
“What seems to work very well in other areas is what people are now referring to as Americana festivals,” he explained. “There is a major one in Nashville, and it takes place all over the city because of how many different venues they have there. But the nice thing about the Americana genre is that it isn’t just one specific genre. It could be folk, it could lean toward jazz or country, or it could be bluegrass or the blues.
“The festivals really are a mesh of everything, and that’s why that looks very intriguing to me,” Wheeler said. “It would be an event that I believe locals would be very interested in, and, based on what I have seen take place around the country, I think we would see a lot of people come into Wheeling from out of town for the music.”
The city of Wheeling has long attracted tourists to attractions like Oglebay and Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack, but the Heritage Bluesfest also attracts visitors from more than 20 states each year.
Achieving the same with new events is Wheeler’s goal.
“We have a lot of music fans in this region, and those folks like a lot of different kinds of music, too. We know we love our rock and roll, our country, the blues, and bluegrass is getting more and more popular, too,” he said. “That’s why I believe a festival at Heritage Port that features a variety of music would be very attractive to people in the tri-state area.
“Now that I am the Entertainment Director for Roxby Development, I am concentrating a lot of different events at the McLure House like the Winter Blues in February, but with Heritage Port just down 12th Street from the hotel, it makes sense for us to utilize that facility when it is possible during the warmer months,” Wheeler said. “Right now, I am not sure what will take place, but the ideas we have will continue to be developed for the future.”
That other possibility?
“The other idea I have would involve growing on what was tried by the City of Wheeling’s Arts and Culture Commission a number of years ago,” Wheeler said. “Not only would it feature the arts, but it also would borrow from the idea of an event that takes place in Charleston that is called FestivALL Charleston. That event is part music, part arts, and part storytelling, and a little bit of everything else.
“The idea is to not just focus on Heritage Port but instead spreading it out around downtown Wheeling. We could have something at Market Plaza and maybe in the parking lot behind Wesbanco Arena, and then some other activities at additional locations,” he added. “That way it could be something of a Wheeling homecoming because such a festival could lead up to the Fourth of July. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
