Twice a year, the Sun Banks Rhythm and Blues Festival brings musicians and music lovers to the idyllic shores of Banks Lake. The 2010 spring edition is fast approaching, and the time to make your reservations is now. Beginning this Thursday, the Festival will run through Sunday, with each day chockfull of top tier blues entertainment.

The Festival attracts musicians from around the state and country, and this year’s spring festival features notable names such as The Moss Brothers, Hamilton Loomis and the Neil Rush Band. Not only will you get to take in some of the most renowned blues musicians, but you will also have the vast Eastern Washington landscape at your disposal. Go on a hike, take a leisurely kayak trip or just lounge around the shore of Banks Lake.

One of my favorite things about the Pacific Northwest is the way the locals celebrate the natural beauty of summer and early fall each year. There are always a variety of festivals, farmers markets, bazaars, outdoor movie screenings and marathons scheduled to bring the people of the greater Seattle area together as one giant community.

Of all of these social, summer and fall happenings, my absolute favorite is the Rhythm and Blue Festival. Although this event is a bit outside the Seattle area, I still compare it to the rest. Such a comparison actually speaks wonders for the festival in that a rural-area festival can not only compete with, but trump a city one. Four days of toe-tapping music that sooths the soul is always my kind of time. I don’t stand alone in my admiration of this event; people from all over the great state of Washington travel to the Sunbanks Resort area to enjoy the soulful sounds of each R&B band.