The annual New York State Blues Festival returns to the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse this weekend, June 12, 13, and 14. The free three-day event features a host of national, regional, and local blues acts, along with various artisans and food vendors from across Central New York.
The annual event first launched in 1992, then dubbed the “Central New York Blues Festival”, in nearby Armory Square before later taking over nearby Clinton Square. Since its inception, the event has grown in size and notoriety each year, with previous headliners including Warren Haynes, Buddy Guy, Little Feat, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, and Dan Aykroyd, and many others. It found its current home at the fairgrounds in 2021.
This year’s lineup stacks up with the best of previous years. Famed blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr. serves as the event’s headliner, and will perform Saturday at 8:30 P.M…