Blues fans have something to celebrate this weekend when the Blues Society of WNY hosts the first Blues’n March Festival. The two-day event features great national acts like Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, T-Broussard and the Zydeco Steppers, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, critical sensations Cephas & Wiggins (champions of the East Coast Piedmont blues style) and Kelly Hunt, among others. The event will be held on two stages and is billed as “Buffalo’s First National Blues Festival.” This promises to be a wild weekend for aficionados and musicians alike—with harmonica and keyboard workshops as well as Zydeco dance lessons. It’s also another chance to see hometown heroes the Patti Parks Band, recently back from the 2006 Memphis Bound International Blues Challenge. The festival concludes Saturday night when Roomful of Blues, a band whose history spans 35 years and over 50 members, brings its hip-shakin’ act to town for two sets designed to blow the roof off the banquet facility.

6:30pm Friday, March 9; 1:30pm Saturday, March 10. The Creekside Banquet Facility, 2669 Union Road (668-8668) www.bluesnmarch.com.