Next weekend will not be the time...

Next weekend will not be the time to sit at home. The 11th annual Long Beach Blues Festival will turn the north athletic field at Cal State Long Beach into one big party Sept. 15 and 16.

Presented by KLON-FM, the festival has a star-studded lineup for the entire weekend. The festival will be opened at 11 a.m. Saturday by the winner of the Blues Festival Talent Search. The Saturday lineup will be headed by Bo Diddley. Harmonica Fats & the Bernie Pearl Blues Band, Lonnie Mack, Little Milton, Ruth Brown and Johnny Winter fill out the score card for Saturday. Sunday’s lineup will feature Roy Gaines in a tribute to T-Bone Walker, Yank Rachell, Anson & the Rockets with Sammy Myers, Otis Rush, Albert Collins & the Icebreakers, and Etta James. Bernie Pearl, performer and host of KLON-FM 88’s “Nothin’ But the Blues” program, will serve as master of ceremonies.

The Long Beach Blues Festival began in 1980 as the KLON Blues and Gospel Festival, the brainchild of Bernie Pearl. The first festival was held at Long Beach’s Veteran Memorial Stadium. A mere 800 tickets were sold to see a lineup of local musicians including Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulson and George “Harmonica” Smith.

In 1981, the festival assumed its present name and location at Cal State Long Beach. It grew, and, in 1984, became a weekend-long event. The Long Beach City Council proclaimed the third week in September as Long Beach Blues Festival Week in 1987. Last year, the festival celebrated its 10th anniversary and drew more than 15,000 blues fans.

The festival has showcased such performers as Bo Diddley, B. B. King, Albert King, Etta James, Jimmy Witherspoon, John Lee Hooker, Elvin Bishop, Taj Mahal, Robert Cray Band, Buddy Guy, James Cotton and Koko Taylor.

The festival will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the gates opening at 10 a.m. both days. Cal State Long Beach is at 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach. Tickets are $17.50 in advance, $20 at the gate, children 12 and younger are free. Tickets can be obtained by calling KLON at 985-5566.

Blues not your cup of tea? The first Long Beach CityFest, held at Shoreline Aquatic Park on Saturday, will offer the local fun-seeker a variety of fun and unusual activities.

Dragon Boat racing, described as the Soap Box Derby of water-going vessels, is one of the more unique attractions of CityFest. Providing their homemade amphibious creations float, the six-man teams will compete in three categories: speed, design and crowd appeal.

The highlight of the CityFest will be a nonstop, two-stage, 18-group, rock n’ roll Battle of the Bands.

Other attractions include a Miss Beach swimsuit competition; an International Dog of the Year contest featuring costumed canines of international background, including all-American mutts, and the Land and Sea Challenge, a co-ed aquatic competition of skill and dexterity.

The Long Beach CityFest, produced by Beach Charities, will be held from 10 a.m. to sunset Saturday at Shoreline Aquatic Park, Shoreline Drive and Pine Avenue, Long Beach. Tickets are $4 for general admission, $25 VIP. The Long Beach CityFest is a co-op charity fund-raiser with more that 20 local charities participating. For more information, call 436-7727.