"Even after a residency of 30 years, there are still times that I go home in Wallace and say to myself, "Wow. What a town." The last time was the first ever Wallace Blues Festival last July in Wallace. Headlined by Curtis Salgado, the festival drew 14 blues acts and 1,500 fans to the downtown streets of Wallace. With its parapets of historic buidlings, its bulwarks of surrounding evergreen mountains, its Red Cup rule, and its enthusiastic volunteers, Wallace was a perfect venue for a blues festival. Those all paid off when Wallace was awarded the best regional blues festival in 2012 by the Inland Empire Blues Society Thursday night (11/8) at the group's 18th Annual Empire Awards at the Spokane Valley Eagles Club. Wallace beat out other nominees Coeur d'Alene and Winthrop. WA. The Wallace Blues Festival had 17 representatives attend the event despite the snow. Wow! What a town!" (SR file photo)
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.
Wallace. Headlined by Curtis Salgado, the festival drew 14 blues acts and 1,500 fans to the downtown streets of Wallace. With its parapets of historic buidlings, its bulwarks of surrounding evergreen mountains, its Red Cup rule, and its enthusiastic volunteers, Wallace was a perfect venue for a blues festival. Those all paid off when Wallace was awarded the best regional blues festival in 2012 by the Inland Empire Blues Society Thursday night (11/8) at the group's 18th Annual Empire Awards at the Spokane Valley Eagles Club. Wallace beat out other nominees Coeur d'Alene and Winthrop. WA. The Wallace Blues Festival had 17 representatives attend the event despite the snow. Wow! What a town!" (SR file photo)
