Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival to take hiatus

The Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival is taking a year off. Chesapeake Bay Events, run by Dunkirk resident Don Hooker and his daughter, Sarah Petska, announced the hiatus Monday. “Two out of three years in the mud was a little much for all of us,” Hooker said. “Wehope to be back in 2020. Avariety of factors were involved in this decision. Primarily, we felt that we need to take a year off to evaluate the changing conditions in the outdoor concert world.” Theconcerts, held the third week of Maysince1998, have raised about $1.7 million for charities. The festival has taken breaks a few years since its inception to recoup after tough years. The two primary charities over the past few years are We Care and Friends, which serves the needy in Annapolis and Special Love, a Winchester-based non-profit for children with cancer that sponsors Camp Fantastic, a summer camp open to children with cancer and other programs for their brothers and sisters. Hooker said he is trying to figure out a way to organize smaller events this year to aid the charities.