Blankets and lawn chairs dotted the grass of Mears Park in St. Paul as hundreds flocked to the Lowertown Blues Festival. The second annual all-ages outdoor concert offered 10 hours of free blues on two stages. Made possible by the efforts of the Minnesota Blues Society, the Lowertown Blues Festival Committee and the city of St. Paul, the mission behind the music is to bring awareness to Lowertown's redevelopment and showcase the beauty and spirit of the area. Festivalgoers, who feasted on delicacies from nearby food trucks, were clearly in the Lowertown spirit by the time headliner Elvin Bishop took the stage.