1st Place: Rock Fest
2nd Place: UWEC Jazzfest
3rd Place: Blues on the Chippewa

The choice of bands says it all for two-time best music festival winner Rock Fest. The Steve Miller Band, Lifehouse, Salvia, Judas Priest, and Buckcherry were some of the highlights from this year. Commanding second place is the UWEC Jazz Festival. Most of my friends own at least one UWEC jazz CD. This year the vocal jazz and expansive age range of performers lit up the voting board. Now that’s plain cool. Coming in a third place is the relatively young Blues on the Chippewa in Durand. That sounds soothing enough. Their free concert in Memorial Park this August was a big success yet again; look for the blues to continue their local popularity, in a soulful way, of course. – Emily Diehl