Although the event has been running every year since 1973, the founder of the San Francisco Blues Festival has canceled the event for 2009 and the foreseeable future. San Francisco Blues Festival founder Tom Mazzolini cites production costs and "an almost impossible time getting corporate and business sponsorships." The festival is typically held in late September at Fort Mason’s Great Meadow. They celebrated its 36th anniversary last year, featuring Allen Toussaint, Charlie Musselwhite and Tommy Castro. But in recent years, the festival has had trouble drawing crowds and big names.