On Friday Michael Burks’s entire band was turned away at the Pigeon River border crossing, dropping a huge hole in the festival schedule.
Later that night Blues Traveler arrived at the Canadian border, only to sit and wait for hours until they could be processed.
All told, six performers or crew members were refused entry into Canada, a source of frustration for festival organizers, fans, performers and even border services officials themselves.
The good news is the two sides have acknowledged there is a problem and are working to fix it.
Community Auditorium officials have scheduled a meeting with Canadian Border Services that should ensure ahead of time whether or not Blues Festival performers and their entourages will be allowed through.
There is a program in place to deal with events like the Blues Festival, and hopefully this means problems like the ones experienced this weekend will be a thing of the past.
Border officials were only doing their jobs, denying entry to people with blemishes on their record, but with the paperwork submitted in advance, it might have been nice to know if someone was going to be refused.
