The Bedford Blues Festival

I had heard about the Bedford Blues Festival for a long time but never made it over there before Saturday. It started in 1995 but was discontinued in 2004. I remember wanting to go several times in those last few years because they were featuring a lot of old bands that I really liked like The Drifters and Al Green, although those aren't really blues bands. I guess it was misnamed and turned into more of just a music festival. Their peak attendance was 78,000 in 2001 but they had only 16,000 people in 2004 - the year they stopped. They decided to revive the thing this year and go back to the roots of the thing which was blues and Texas music.*
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The event was held in a big flat field that I didn't even know existed. It's just south of Airport Freeway in a heavily congested restaurant row area that's also just slightly west of the airport. The field is between the hospital district where I spent my pneumonia days and the local school district's football field. And right next to The Movie Tavern. I had no idea there was a field there.
In the photo above, the red rectangle is where we parked, the yellow rectangle is the VIP tent and the blue spot is about where I made the video at the bottom. Right at the tip of the arrow is where the main stage was.
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It really was just a big flat field and this is a shot of the main stage (there was a smaller one over in the craft/shops area to the left.):

That should give you an idea of how far away we were from the stage. But the food and drinks were right behind us, so that's where I wanted to be. My reasoning was that music is aural anyway, not visual. So we got some simple food and lots of beers and were feeling happy and goofy. It's not like we were wasted or anything, it's just that we had that perfect little buzz where we were silly and giggly. It was probably a combination of the weather being cooler and the good music and the moon being off just one day of full.
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It got dark and we were just standing out there laughing and talking (and I made that goofy video at the bottom) when this happy buzzed couple walked up to us. The last band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds were playing. I had been eyeing the distance to the gates and the crowd and thinking maybe we should head out. Then this couple approached us and said, "We're leaving and we have these VIP bracelets. See that tent over there? They have seats and free beer. You just can't take your beers in or take those beers out." We were sort of caught off guard, but said, "Sure!" They had trouble getting their bracelets off, and had to actually break them, but I had safety pins in my purse, because I am always prepared for anything, so we put them on.:

We made our way over to the VIP tent which had lots of chairs and tables and FREE BEER and was way close to the stage. I had gone from maybe it's time to go to Cool Beans! I am so hanging out here! And the very best thing of all was when I needed "to go" I looked around and there was a bathroom trailer with running water and flushing toilets and paper towels and soap and everything like a real bathroom whereas we had formerly been dealing with port-a-potties. So that was really the best part. When I came back, I said, "I V.I.Peed!" Here's a pic of the VIP tent area (we were sitting outside of the tent and that's the stage on the left):

In the video below, you will see the tent just after I pan to the right by the main stage. Oh and when we got ready to leave, I figured since we were VIPs we'd have a VIP exit. We wandered over the wrong way and were practically backstage:

There was a VIP exit and we avoided the crowds which was good because we actually were there until the end. So I wonder why that couple didn't just take the VIP exit. Why did they walk all the way through the crowd, find us, and give us their bracelets? We'll never know, but I'm glad they did. It was fun. Here's the goofy video. My Sweetie was using a fake southern accent but unfortunately mine was real. I cringed when I heard my "Shut up!" Hopefully you will find it amusing.

*Thanks to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for this information.