Topanga Blues Festival: Archived Event Listing
Facts
- Festival has run annually since 1982 at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon, California.
- Historically presented by the nonprofit Southern California Blues Society (SCBS), which directed proceeds to causes like the Willie Dixon Scholarship Fund.
- Theatricum Botanicum was founded by actor Will Geer and Herta Ware after Geer's 1950s Hollywood blacklisting; it marked its 50th anniversary in 2023.
- The festival is a single-day event that has included a harmonica workshop alongside main-stage blues performances.
This page is an archived event-listing card for the Topanga Blues Festival, the long-running outdoor blues festival held annually at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon, California. It is kept here purely as a historical record of the festival's format and venue, not as an active ticket listing. The Southern California Blues Journal is an independent fan guide and is not affiliated with the Theatricum Botanicum, the original Southern California Blues Society, or any current festival organizer. For current dates, lineup, and tickets, go to the festival's own official channels or the venue's box office directly — do not rely on this archive page for anything time-sensitive.
The festival dates back to 1982 and has run, with some interruptions, for over four decades, making it one of the oldest blues events associated with the Southern California region. For much of its history it was presented by the Southern California Blues Society (SCBS), a nonprofit formed to preserve and promote blues music and culture in the region; the society historically directed festival proceeds toward causes such as the Willie Dixon Scholarship Fund and blues-in-the-schools education programs. More recent editions of the festival have continued at the same venue under newer organizing arrangements, reflecting the broader pattern of SCBS-era events in Southern California being carried forward by different promoters and community groups after the original society wound down.
The venue itself, Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum, is a historic outdoor repertory theater founded by actor Will Geer and his wife Herta Ware after Geer was blacklisted in Hollywood during the 1950s; the theater takes its name from a 17th-century botanical treatise and marked its 50th anniversary in 2023. Its hillside, amphitheater-style grounds in Topanga Canyon have hosted the blues festival as a single-day, family-oriented event that has featured a harmonica workshop alongside the main musical program, drawing audiences from across the Westside, the San Fernando Valley, and the Santa Monica Mountains communities.
Because this specific listing is archived, it intentionally does not display a lineup, ticket link, or set time for any one edition — those details change from year to year and should always be confirmed through current, official sources before making plans to attend. For the fuller history of the festival, including more on its past performers and organizers, visit our main Topanga Blues Festival guide. You can also browse other Southern California blues dates on our calendar or see more archived listings like this one in our past events section.
