There are birthday parties, and then there are birthday parties that last an entire season. Blues at The Cove is turning 20, and it’s celebrating the only way it knows how — with great music, great food, a packed room and a whole lot of soul.
This fall, Blues at The Cove is marking two decades of bringing some of Canada’s finest blues, roots and soul musicians to Westport — while raising just over $100,000 for local charities and community organizations along the way.
Not bad for something that started with a relatively simple idea: put great musicians in an intimate room, feed people a delicious dinner, pour them a drink, and see what happens.
What happens, as it turns out, is usually pretty spectacular.
The 20th anniversary season gets underway on Friday, October 16 with the return of one of the series’ most memorable performers — Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar.
If you’ve seen Samantha Martin before, you already know this isn’t your average Friday night out. Martin possesses the kind of soulful voice that makes you wonder whether the walls of The Cove were actually engineered to withstand it. Backed by Delta Sugar, she brings together blues, soul, gospel and R&B in a sound that is simultaneously timeless and thoroughly modern. And if you haven’t seen her before, October 16 would be an excellent night to correct that oversight.
But Samantha is just the opening act — figuratively speaking — for another remarkable season.
The 2026 –27 Blues at The Cove lineup continues the series’ tradition of bringing exceptional Canadian musicians to Westport. Bywater Call follows in November with its powerful blend of soul, roots and southern rock. Canadian blues institution MonkeyJunk takes over the room in December, while legendary guitarist and singer Jack de Keyzer returns for a January weekend.
February brings Nashville-based powerhouse Annika Chambers and Paul DesLauriers, followed in March by the incomparable Calgary blues and boogie-woogie legendary pianist Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne. The season continues in April with Ottawa’s blues sensation Angelique Francis Band, before Yukon classic bluesman Brandon Isaak closes out the series in May.
It’s a lineup that takes the audience on a musical road trip without requiring anyone to actually leave Westport. And that is really the beauty of Blues at The Cove. The formula is wonderfully uncomplicated. Come for dinner, stay for the music. Bring your friends, have a few laughs. Maybe dance, definitely clap!
Guests arrive for a totally delicious and plentiful buffet dinner before settling in for an evening of live music. There’s something particularly enjoyable about hearing world-class musicians in an intimate room rather than watching them from somewhere in the back row of a cavernous concert hall while trying to identify the performer through binoculars.
At The Cove, the musicians are right there. You can see the expressions, hear the nuances and feel the room react when a great singer hits that note or a guitarist launches into a solo that makes conversation temporarily impossible.
And these nights are not just about the bands.
Blues at The Cove has become something of a gathering place — a chance to see old friends, meet new ones and spend an evening enjoying some of the best things Westport has to offer. For those travelling from outside the village, it can easily become a full weekend getaway.
Westport is a beautiful little waterside village, surrounded by lakes and the Rideau Waterway, with restaurants, shops, galleries, outdoor activities and plenty of opportunities to slow down and enjoy the scenery. And, of course, there’s the option of simply staying right at The Cove Inn. Why drive home after a great dinner and a couple of sets of blues when you can walk upstairs to a vintage hotel room and wake up beside the water?
A Blues at The Cove weekend can be as ambitious or as lazy as you like: arrive Friday, enjoy dinner and the show, sleep in Saturday morning, have breakfast, explore the village, get out on the water, do some shopping, have another great meal and head home Sunday wondering why you don’t do this more often.
The series itself is also a wonderful example of what can happen when a community gets behind an idea. Blues at The Cove has benefited enormously from the support of local businesses, community organizations and generous guests who understand that live music is more than entertainment. It helps create a reason for people to visit, stay overnight, dine locally and experience everything the village has to offer.
That support has also allowed the series to give something meaningful back. Over the past 20 years, Blues at The Cove has raised more than $100,000 for local charities and community organizations. That means thousands of dinners, thousands of songs, thousands of drinks and an awful lot of dancing have translated into something tangible for the community.
Twenty years is a remarkable milestone for any concert series, particularly one taking place in a small Ontario community. But perhaps that is part of the magic. Come celebrate 20 years beginning on Friday, October 16 with Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar.
Blues at The Cove — 20 years in, and the beat goes on.