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ALPENA, Mich. —  The pandemic taking the fun out of last summer gave a lot of us the blues. This year, the blues are back in Alpena- and it’s in a good way.

After having to cancel the Alpena Blue’s Festival in 2020, the event is back for its 17th year and with a unique lineup.

“This year, it’s going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread,” said Tom “The Psycho Mann” Rose. “Everybody wants to get out, and everybody wants to do stuff, and we have just the place for you to be.”

The theme of the festival will be “Ladies of the Blues” and all but one group is lead by women. Thornetta Davis is headlining the event. The concert will be at the normal venue in downtown Alpena. With outdoor COVID restrictions lifted in Michigan it will look a lot like the last festival- normal again.

“We’re doing it with a vengeance this year,” Rose said.

The Blues Festival had the goal of highlighting Ladies of the Blues because of their importance to the genre.

“Women in the blues is a big deal,” the Psycho Mann told WBKB. “We’d like to showcase them this year. So that’s why we’re doing it- there’s just this thing about it, people want to see more women playing.”

The festival is trying to stamp out hunger and asks all those who come to bring a canned good for donation.

“We give this to the local soup kitchens,” Rose said. “They provide them to people that need food. So help us stamp out hunger with the Blues.”

Tickets are $30 at the door or can be bought on the Alpena Blue’s Festival website.