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Back in 2008, officials from Allentown and the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce's Hamilton District Main Street program were brainstorming ways to lure people to the city's languishing downtown. Someone came up with an alliterative name for an event celebrating three things people like. Blues (as in music), brews (as in beer) and barbecue (as in roasted, shredded pork). Born was the idea for a free, daytime festival with a single stage and local talent on a single block. It ended up attracting perhaps a couple thousand people to Hamilton Street on a sunny Saturday, says Miriam Huertas, now the chamber's senior vice president of Allentown Initiatives. Downtown Allentown has since undergone a renaissance that has brought $1 billion in development and many new businesses and people downtown. Blues, Brews and Barbecue has developed too. Last year, officials say, 20,0000 people attended. On Saturday, the festival celebrates its 10th year with its biggest event ever. It will stretch three blocks of Hamilton Street (Sixth Street to Ninth) and two blocks of Seventh. And it will have a record five performance stages, including a huge professional metal-frame main stage at PPL Plaza in Hamilton Street's 800 block. The lineup is a mix of local and nationally touring performers. Headliners include Texas guitar prodigies The Peterson Brothers, two young siblings who fuse classic blues with soul, funk and disco, and guitarist Albert Castiglia, whose 2014 album "Solid Ground" hit the Top 10 on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart. There also will be 38 food vendors (50 percent more than any previous year) and 40 craft and non-food vendors (60 percent more than ever). A dozen downtown merchants also will take part. It will also have new attractions, including a car show, free rides on a tethered hot air balloon and a fireworks finale. "It's promising to be the best Blues Brews and Barbecue ever, and we are thrilled," Huertas says. "We just wanted to make as many new changes as we could possibly do effectively and successfully. It's going to be a fantastic day, it really is." Huertas says the partnership of the city and chamber bought into the idea of Blues, Brews and Barbecue because it just seemed to fit. Huertas and her musician husband, Mike Krisukas, at the time ran Bummer Tent Records, which had recorded several local blues artists and were familiar with both the Valley's rich pool of performers and its avid fan community. Through the first few years, the festival saw steady growth, with most of the Lehigh Valley's top blues artists playing, including Mike Dugan, Craig Thatcher, Sarah Ayers, James Supra and Todd Wolfe. "We carved out a date for ourselves," Huertas says. "The blues community is rich in the Lehigh Valley, and there are all kinds of festivals and events that take place. Being in the Northeast, there's only so many days you can do things like that. So we carved out a very sweet spot for ourselves — the second Saturday in June." Organizers tried to build on its idea each year — for example, adding children's activities —but stayed true to "what it is — three major elements: blues brews and barbecue, probably in that order," Huertas says. "People come out for the music," Huertas says. "They don't have to buy anything. It's a free event, it's open to the public. They can come and be a blues lover and bring their own chair and set up shop. But eventually the smells would get to you and you'd get thirsty, so we worked on that, too." In 2015, the first festival after the PPL Center arena transformed center city, the festival grew significantly. "Our downtown is forever changed," Huertas says. "We have buildings that have been popping up every other month. So when everything started to happen, I said, 'We need to have a stage and go down toward Seventh.'" The chamber took over the event and for the first time booked national artists such as guitarist/singer Joe Louis Walker. It also expanded to two blocks. Last year, the festival added a third block of Hamilton, closed Allentown's center square intersection at Seventh and Hamilton and added a fourth stage and second beer tent. Attendance doubled again. The biggest festival yet After 2106's successful year, Huertas set a goal of 10 stages for the 10th year. "It's a great mantra, but in actuality it was a heavy lift," Huertas says. "We ended up with five amazing stages." The Peterson Brothers were booked in December. "I love young artists, and one of the things I really take pride in with this festival and really something that we've tried to do from the beginning, is we want traditional blues artists," Huertas says. "Blues is a feeling, it's an emotion. It's a drive and it's a passion for people who do it. And so we want to be respectful of that." Other performers include New York State Blues Hall of Famer Chaz DePaolo and Regina Bonelli, who Blues E-News Magazine ranked among the Top 10 Women in Music and who played the festival last year. Also back is The Clarence Spady Band. The festival found Philadelphia band David Coppa and Scrapple through an online SonicBids listing that drew 75 requests from artists, Huertas says. Returning regional acts include Craig Thatcher and Pete Fluck, Mike Mettalia & Midnight Shift, James Supra Blues Band and The BC Combo. There also will be after-hours performances at Hamilton Kitchen, Centro, Bell Hall and Allentown Brew Works. In addition to PPL Plaza, stages are at Hamilton Kitchen at Seventh and Hamilton, at Bell Hall, near Allentown Brew Works and at Queen City BBQ on North Seventh Street. The law firm of Gross McGinley will have an antique car show on Seventh Street south of Hamilton and a tethered hot air balloon that will give free rides on Seventh Street across from the car show. The record number of food vendors will include 10 new ones: Baron Von Schwein Food Truck, Big Poppa's, Cob's Concessions, Green Kamikozees, Hilbilly BBQ, Josie's Fancy Funnels, Mother Nature vegan barbecue, Pocono Pizza Kits, Queen City BBQ, Rollin Dough, Scott's Hot Spot/Gyro Box, Sherri's Crab Cakes, Tre Locally Sourced and Uncle Paul's Stuffed Pretzels. Returning favorites include Sherri's Crab Cakes and, after a year absence, Kloby's Smoke House from Laurel, Md. Downtown businesses taking part include Island in the Sun, Sugar Hill Jazz House (Baby Got Que!), Chickie & Pete's, 99 Bottles and Centro. The festival will again have three beer tents, and all will be bigger. The 800 block of Hamilton will have a tractor-trailer with Origlio product and Absolut vodka and Malibu rum from American Liberty. The 700 block will have Fegley's Brew Works beer and the Colony Meadery. A Shangy's truck will be in the 600 block with craft brews. The festival will sell insulated 24-ounce 10th anniversary mugs. A dozen of the crafters and non-food businesses are new, including Massage Perspectives, a mobile massage truck doing hand and feet massages; Hillbilly Beef Jerky homemade snacks, Jak Jeckel Pepper Sauce and Barkley's Bakery, selling organic homemade dog treats customized for the blues. Blues Brews and Barbecue will close with a fireworks display set off from the Wells Fargo Bank building at Seventh and Hamilton. Huertas says the fireworks idea came from the success of the chamber's New Year Eve display in downtown Allentown. That celebration, she says, is one of the several programs paid for with money raised from Blues Brews and Barbecue (Allentown's Christmas tree-lighting ceremony and lunchtime outdoor free concerts are others). "We thought that, this 10th anniversary, we wanted to end it with a bang," Huertas says. DETAILS Blues, Brews and Barbecue What: Five stages of blue music, craft beer, barbecue and other food, artisans and merchants When: Noon-10 p.m. Saturday Where: On Hamilton Street in downtown Allentown, from Sixth to Ninth Street, and for a block north and south on Seventh National acts: The Peterson Brothers (8:30 p.m. PPL Plaza stage), Albert Castiglia (6:45 p.m. PPL Plaza stage), David Coppa & Scrapple (5:45 p.m. Bell Hall stage), Clarence Spady Band (5:45 p.m. Hamilton Kitchen stage), Chaz DePaolo (4:30 p.m. PPL Plaza stage), Regina Bonelli (2 p.m. PPL Plaza stage) Local acts: Craig Thatcher and Pete Fluck, Andy Killcoyne and Kathleen Weber, Mike Mettalia & Midnight Shift, Supra Ayers Blues Band, The Groove Merchants, Cuzins the Band, Tavern Tan, Chaz DePaolo, BC Combo. After-fest performances include The Groove Merchants (Hamilton Kitchen) and Copper Fields (Fegley's Allentown Brew Works). How much: Free Parking: $3 all day at the Spiral Deck, the Arena Deck and the Transportation Center Deck Fireworks: 10:15 p.m., after The Peterson Brothers Info: www.downtownallentown.com