Pepsi
Bay Side Entertainment Stage
Presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield & Blue Care
Network of Michigan

Located at the Festival Open Space Park.
Enjoy Nightly Entertainment
Main Stage Entertainment begins at 9:00 p.m.


Festival Nights at the Bay Side Entertainment Stage

Saturday, July 5 – To be announced



Sunday, July 6 – A Celebration of Faith
A Celebration of Faith will take center stage as Chris Sligh, who was a top ten finalist on the sixth season of American Idol. Chris began singing during high school and now resides in Franklin, Tennessee. His debut album “Running Back To You” will be released May 16th. The first song ‘Empty Me’ has already been released to AC and Christian Radio stations nationally. Also appearing with Chris is Krissy Nordhoff, originally a Michigan native who now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. Her sophomore CD called “Downpour” features her current Top 10 single ‘Outrageous Love’ on Christian radio nationally. Opening for both Chris and Krissy following the Festival Air Show is Steve Bigsby, a one man entertainer of the Bigsby Show – a fun, energetic, and interactive show perfect for kids through 12 years old and the entire family.
Monday, July 7 – To be announced



Tuesday, July 8 – James Otto
Country music’s James Otto will wow fans on stage. A country singer and songwriter with a Southern rock heart, James Otto was born into a military family at the Fort Lewis Army Base in Washington and grew up all over the U.S., including extended stays in North Dakota and Alabama. He started singing when he was only four years old, and learned both violin and saxophone before getting his first guitar at the age of 13. Both his father and grandfather were part-time musicians who played gigs in local bars, so music was hardly a foreign thing to Otto, but it wasn't until he spent time with his mother in Sand Mountain, AL, that he really discovered the joys of country music. After graduating from high school, Otto did a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy and, following his release from active service, he moved to Nashville in 1998, attending various songwriting nights at the clubs there, soon falling in with the so-called MuzikMafia, a feisty group of writers and musicians that included Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson, who became the central players in a CMT reality show called MuzikMafia TV. The exposure landed Otto a record deal with Mercury Nashville and he released a handful of singles and an album, 2002's Days of Our Lives, before being dropped by the label in 2004. Following a small screen role in Road House 2, he rebounded by signing with Raybaw Records, a Warner Bros. imprint, and releasing a second album, Sunset Man, produced by his brother-in-law (and Rascal Flatts member) Jay DeMarcus, in 2008. James Otto is currently “pushing towards” a CMT number one single.



Wednesday, July 9 – 1964 The Tribute
Back by popular demand is 1964 The Tribute, presented by Netlink Business Solutions, performing tunes reminiscent of the Beatles era on Wednesday evening, July 9th. An evening packed with fun for the entire family is always one of the most popular Bay Side evenings!

Sponsored by:

Thursday, July 10 – Gin Blossoms
Thursday will be a “not to be missed” evening of music as the Gin Blossoms take to the stage. The Gin Blossoms are an alternative rock band formed in 1987, in Tempe, Arizona. They took their name from a photo of W.C. Fields which bore the caption "W.C. Fields with gin blossoms," referring to the actor's gin-ravaged nose. The band, whose members were musically weaned on The Byrds and Tom Petty, released three albums and had several hits in the mid-1990’s, before breaking up in 1997. Five years later in 2002, the band reunited, released a DVD, resumed touring, and has a show that will be as vibrant as the first concert performed in hometown Tempe, Arizona.



Friday, July 11 – WAR
An American original, WAR was the first and most successful musical crossover phenomenon that forever fused rock, jazz, Latin, and Rhythm and Blues, while transcending racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line-up; a musical melting pot and an enduring influence that has sold over 50 million records to date. Festival goers will enjoy all time rock and roll favorites “Low Rider” and Why Can’t We Be Friends.”



Saturday, July 12 – Think Floyd
“THINK Floyd USA” – a tribute to Pink Floyd will set the stage for one last fun-filled night of Festival musical entertainment. “THINK Floyd USA” celebrates material from Pink Floyd’s beginnings to the present day. The band will take festival-goers on a musical and visual flight through the Pink Floyd galaxy. Recognized as America’s #1 Pink Floyd show, the band will perform all of Pink Floyd’s classic hits.

The Festival Fireworks Finale will get under way at 10:30 (dusk) to mark the end of the 82nd National Cherry Festival.