The Marquette Blues Society held a logo competition for this years festival.

The winner was selected Monday night.

With more than 50 submissions, Blues Society members mulled over which piece of art submitted should be selected as the logo for this years festival.  Members say when they first started the festival submissions were as low as 35, but as the festival has grown, so has the submissions and the level of artistic creativity.

“It’s going to be a tough choice this year because there are some amazing artists.  Every year people come up with some amazing ideas, they incorporate the U.P. into it, it’s just amazing,” Marquette Blues Society President Mark Hamari said.

“We have actually had some young people who have jumped into it, there is a whole class in Dearborn, Michigan who devotes their yearly project into our festival logo,” Marquette Blues Festival Director Mark Stonerock said.

Society members say the 2014 logo is important because this years lineup will include an award winner or two and blues is an art form that represents a part of society that should be treasured.

“The blues is a uniquely American art form and it’s the root of a lot of other forms of music and it’s important that we do our part to keep the blues alive,” Hamari said.

“The Sunday headliner is Rick Estrin and the Nightcats, he’s been a blues award winner many times and  our headliner on Saturday is Nikki Hill, a really good up and coming young Blues woman,” Stonerock said.

The winning logo was number 48, submitted by Marquette Photographer, Tom Buchkoe.

The Blues festival takes place over Labor Day weekend, August 29 – 31 at Mattson Lower Harbor. For more information visit www.marquetteareabluessociety.com.