Day 53- October 1, 2010

Eleanor update: Eleanor just returned to her room after a successful surgery.  The doctor was able to zap the kidney stone with a laser and remove the entire thing. She will have a small stint in place for a few days - we'll see how long she keeps that in.

Today was the first day of Bay Fest. BayFest : BayFest will celebrate its 16th anniversary with an expected crowd of more than 200,000 guests in the streets of Downtown Mobile and see over 125 live musical acts on nine stages during the weekend.

Having grown substantially from a debut crowd of 50,000 in 1995, BayFest has become known for its vast array of renowned musical talent that appeals to a wide variety of audiences and is suitable for the entire family. Since BayFest’s beginning, acts such as B.B. King, Hootie & the Blowfish, The Temptations, Widespread Panic, Keith Urban, Kid Rock, Ludacris, Travis Tritt, Velvet Revolver, LeAnn Rimes, Nelly, Alan Jackson, Anita Baker, Stone Temple Pilots and hundreds more have performed on BayFest stages.

BayFest was recently honored by the Alabama Tourism Department as the 2009 Alabama Event of the Year. The Tourism Department indicated that the choice was based largely on BayFest’s economic impact over the past fifteen years, which is estimated to be more than $185 million. Mobile’s Music Festival was also selected as a Top 20 Event for October 2009 by the Southeast Tourism Society.

BayFest, a nonprofit 501C3 corporation, is run by a very dedicated and entirely volunteer board of directors. These community leaders give freely of their time and expertise to guide the festival to success each year.