Attention music lovers: Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival starts Tuesday

Only a fewhours to go until the 2018 Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival gets underway on Tuesday.

Brent Staeben, Harvest music director, said the festival reflects the best of the city of Fredericton especially one month after a shooting on Brookside Drive that left four people dead, including two police officers.

"We really [have] shown the best of us over the last month," he said. "I think Harvest reflects a lot of those things."

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Performances that will attract thousands of people from across North America will take place at venues throughout the downtown, including tents and pubs andcity streets, where buskers will perform.

The first show is by Fredericton native Ross Neilsen at the TD Marquee Stage at the Fredericton Playhouse at 7:30 p.m.

Neilsen will be followed by the Blind Boys of Alabama at 8:30 p.m.

The festival runs through Sundayand will host a wide array of musicians from across the continent.

Grammy award-winning Americana and alt-country singer Sturgill Simpson will headline the Moose Light Blues Tent on Friday, Sept. 14.

The country music star is replacing Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, after they cancelled their performance at the annual festival. But the group promised they will perform at the festival in 2019.

"I really felt that he was the best choice for us available," Staeben said.

About 15 years ago, Staeben said the festival started to expand beyond jazz and blues. And the festival is continuing to evolve today.

"This year you can almost say we've got a nice Americana, kind of alt-country feel in certain places," he said.

"We've really started to emphasis just, Harvest. It's harvest time, it's Harvest festival."

Volunteers still needed

Free transit service will be availableon Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 5 p.m.until 11 p.m. Three routes will run on the north side and one on the south side. Threechartered routes will also be added, runningfrom 11 p.m. until 3 a.m., including north side routes.

"The intent is to give you more options to help you get home or come downtown too," he said.

Meanwhile, the festival is still recruiting volunteers. Organizers said it takes about 1,200 volunteers to keep the festival up and running.

"That's a big part of the longevity of the festival, that kind of commitment from the community," he said. "That kind of passion from the community to help us succeed."