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If you’ve spent any Septembers in Mississauga or west Toronto, you already know the sound: guitar riffs drifting off Lake Ontario, the smell of food vendors mixing with lake air, and Lakeshore Road shut down to cars because, once a year, it belongs to the music instead. The Tim Hortons Southside Shuffle Blues & Jazz Festival is back for a 28th run, taking over Port Credit’s Memorial Park (and a big chunk of the village) from September 11 to 13.
Twenty-eight years! That’s a long run for any festival, especially one that started as four bands on a soccer field with no liquor license to speak of. Who remembers that? I was there. Yes, I am that old!
Back in 1999, that was the whole show — Downchild Blues Band, Fathead, Jack de Keyzer, and Jake & The Blue Midnights. Fast forward to today and it’s become one of Ontario’s top-rated festivals, and quietly, a launching pad for some real talent. Jimmy Bowskill played here as a teenager before going on to Blue Rodeo and The Sheepdogs. Steve Marriner cut his teeth on this exact stage before joining MonkeyJunk and Colin James — and wouldn’t you know it, he’s back again this year to close out Sunday.
“It truly is an international festival,” says founder and artistic director Chuck Jackson, who also happens to front Downchild. “We’ve had fans here from Central America, Norway, Scotland, all over North America. We’ve even had celebrities like Brad Pitt come out to see Buddy Guy during TIFF.”
And that’s really the fun part — the roll call of legends who’ve graced this stage over the years reads like a fantasy blues lineup: David Clayton-Thomas, Mavis Staples, Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, The Funk Brothers, Canned Heat, Dr. Hook, Pat Travers, Duke Robillard, Ronnie Hawkins, the Average White Band. Pretty wild pedigree for a festival that started with a borrowed sound system.
“We’re really excited about this year’s lineup,” says Jackson. “With world-renowned and award-winning musicians coming from across Canada and the U.S., it’s shaping up to be another great weekend of live music in Port Credit.”
Who’s Actually Playing
Friday kicks off with Canadian rock royalty Kim Mitchell — yes, the “Patio Lanterns” and “Go For Soda” guy, a three-time Juno winner going all the way back to his Max Webster days. Jack de Keyzer and the Jon Hines Band open things up.
Saturday night belongs to Blackberry Smoke, the Atlanta (play nice) Southern-rock outfit headlining courtesy of Visit Mississauga, with Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar, the Suzie Vinnick Band, and the Cameo Blues Band (featuring Chuck Jackson himself, plus Tom Barlow) rounding things out.
Sunday wraps it all up with Slowhand: The Music of Eric Clapton, presented by Lance Anderson and featuring Steve Marriner, Matt Weidinger, and Selena Evangeline. Also on the bill: Steve Marriner and Local Electric, The Weber Brothers, and Cheryl Lescom & The Tucson Choir Boys.
What It’ll Set You Back
Main Stage tickets are $30 Friday, $40 Saturday, $30 Sunday — or just grab the Weekend Pass for $80 and stop doing math. Don;t worry the Street Shuffle is still free.
Or, You Know, Pay Nothing at All
There’s a whole free side to this thing, too. The World Stage brings in Duende, Samba Squad, Jay Douglas and The Allstars, Ken Whiteley’s Sunday Gospel Special, and Toronto Blues Society Talent Search winner Joe Ray McDonald. Over at the Snug Cafe Acoustic Stage, you’ve got Morgan Davis, Harrison Kennedy, and Alfie Smith doing their thing.
This year also brings back the Rising Star Youth Challenge, and on Sunday, the Mississauga Music Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony, honouring Don Breithaupt and Brian Murray.
Saturday’s the One to Plan Around
This is the part locals build their whole weekend on. Bumping into neighbours and friends at the Street Shuffle is a PC rite of passage. From 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, the LIUNA Local 183 Street Shuffle closes Lakeshore Road down entirely, turning the whole strip into one big free street party — Tree Top Poets, Latintrain, Voodoo Pawn Shop, and the Whiskey River Blues Band among the acts. It all kicks off at 12:45 p.m. with a ribbon cutting at Lakeshore and Stavebank, followed by a Second Line Parade led by the Top Hat Marching Band.
“The Street Shuffle, it’s a real fan favourite,” says Jackson. “It’s a chance for families to come down. We’ve got bands from Mississauga, and around Ontario, on the stages.”
Port Credit gets called Mississauga’s “jewel by the lake” pretty often, and honestly, on Shuffle weekend, it earns it. Coming by GO Train? The festival grounds are a short walk directly south from the station, so don’t stress about parking. Get off the train and follow the scent and cool breeze coming off Lake Ontario!
Festival Chair Kristine Kane is quick to point out none of it happens on its own.
“The Tim Hortons Southside Shuffle wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of so many outstanding sponsors, grantors, and donors,” she says. “We’re incredibly grateful to partners like Tim Hortons Mississauga, Visit Mississauga, Ontario Creates, Canadian Heritage, the Hazel McCallion Foundation, Port Credit Community Foundation, Port Credit BIA, the City of Mississauga, LIUNA Local 183, Snug Cafe, and numerous local businesses, along with the hundreds of dedicated volunteers who help make the festival possible each year.”
With more than 60 performances stacked across the Main Stage, two free stages, the Street Shuffle, and the bars and restaurants that’ll have their own music cranking too, there’s genuinely no bad way to spend the weekend down at the lake.
Full schedule, tickets, and volunteer info: southsideshuffle.ca.
