RITZVILLE — Music will return to Ritzville, as RitzFest makes its debut Saturday. 

“We are excited,” said Cory Bartlett, vice president of the Ritzville Festivals Association, which is putting on the event. “It’s been a long time.” 

The Ritzville Blues, Brews and BBQs festival ended its run in 2011, and there was an event called Music on Main that lasted a few years, Bartlett said, but that too has gone by the wayside. Bartlett is active in the local music scene, he said, with his band Big Dawg and the Howlers, so he reached out to fellow local musicians to join in the fun. 

“We've got some great musicians coming in,” Bartlett said. “Andy Rumsey is coming. He's kind of a one-man show. He's pretty spectacular. And then Two Stones One Bird, they're out of Chewelah. They're coming down, and they've got a six-piece, kind of eclectic (band). They do everything from bluegrass to country to blues to rock and roll.” 

The Spokane-based trio Sidestep will also be performing, Bartlett said. That group consists of saxophonist Jon Goforth, keyboard player Danny McCollim and guitarist Pat Barclay. 

“We’re an older-generation group, and we’re kind of old school R&B, funk,” McCollim said. “We do electronics, so I have a lot of the rhythm parts all sequenced.” 

Barclay played with rhythm-and-blues legends Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and B. B. King in the past, McCollim said, and he and Goforth toured with Boz Scaggs last summer.  

“Boz came to Spokane and his guitar player had COVID and couldn’t do the gig,” McCollim said. “They got Pat on the gig and Jon too … and (they) finished out the tour with them.” 

McCollim played for 17 years with Peter Rivera of the 1960s band Rare Earth, he said, and has played with Spokane groups like All Fall Down. 

“We’ve got some good credentials, I guess,” McCollim said. “And we all really enjoy playing together, and we get a nice chemistry between us. A lot of fun.” 

Big Dawg and the Howlers has been around for about seven years, Bartlett said, and they do mostly classic rock covers and blues. 

Music isn’t the only thing that will be at the fairgrounds Saturday, Bartlett said. There will be craft vendors, and local food truck The Dog Stop will be there with gourmet hot dogs. 

“We’re going to be running the barbecue pork dog and the Hawaii dog,” said Jacob Schultz, co-owner with his brother-in-law Antonio Najera of The Dog Stop. “The barbecue pork dog is a jumbo all-beef dog topped with barbecued pulled pork, red onion and some extra barbecue sauce. And then the Hawaii dog has got the jumbo all-beef dog with Canadian bacon, a homemade tropical salad that we make out of mango, pineapple, and some other ingredients, and then it's topped with a teriyaki white sauce.” 

“And then we've got a hand-spun gourmet cotton candy (vendor),” Bartlett said. “It's really cool, because she decorates it in a very different way than traditional cotton candy.” 

There will also be an open mic from noon to 2 p.m., Bartlett said. 

“People can come up and strut their stuff for some prizes,” he said. “It’ll be a fun time.” 

The festival will run from noon to 10:30 p.m. at the Wheat Land Fairgrounds amphitheater, Bartlett said. The vendors will be out noon to 8 p.m. and there will be a beer garden from 4 to 9 p.m. Admission is $10 for an adult and $5 for seniors and children 12 and younger, or $25 for a family of four. One pass is good for all the performances all day. Tickets are on sale at Gigamedics, 213 W. Main St. in Ritzville, or online at ritzvillefestivals.org. 

“So it's really a cheap event to go have fun at and hear some really good musicians play all day long,” Bartlett said. 

RitzFest 

12-10:30 p.m. Aug. 24 

Wheat Land Fairgrounds, 811 E. Main Ave., Ritzville 

$10 adults, $5 seniors and children, $25 for a family of four 

Info and tickets: www.ritzvillefestivals.org 

From left, Jon Goforth, Danny McCollim and Pat Barclay, who perform together as Sidestep, will play at RitzFest Saturday.