Downtown is getting a new blues festival as well as a hall of fame to celebrate the best St. Louis musicians in the genre, organizers and local officials announced Thursday.

The festival, St. Louis Bluesweek, will run Aug. 26-Sept. 5 and will feature live performances outside the Peabody Opera House, a music-and-pub crawl through Soulard, educational workshops and an awards ceremony. 

The St. Louis Blues Hall of Fame, which planners say also will include a bar and restaurant, a recording studio and classroom space, is set to occupy part of the Laurel building (formerly Dillard's) at 601 Washington Avenue.

Organizers, who are working on the project with Mercantile Exchange developer Spinnaker, were hesitant Thursday to estimate when the site might be completed.

"We're moving at full speed with this," said Mike Kociela, Bluesweek's founder who is also overseeing the hall of fame creation. "It's going to come together fast."

Bluesweek gets started with a cocktail party on Aug. 26 at Union Station. The heart of the event is Aug. 27-28 outside the Peabody Opera House, where St. Louis blues musicians will jam in sets ranging from an hour to an hour and a half.

Kociela said it was important for Bluesweek to contain an educational element, so there are various panel discussions and workshops scheduled for Aug. 31-Sept. 2.

The event's second weekend includes the Soulard Blues Cruise, a two-night lineup of local talent such as the Rum Drum Ramblers, Soulard Blues Band, Melissa Neels Band and more at 10 locations throughout Soulard. A ceremony on Sunday at the Old Rock House will wrap things up by honoring 10 St. Louis blues artists with lifetime achievement awards.

"The city of St. Louis would not be the same without the blues," Mayor Francis Slay said at Thursday's news conference with Roland Johnson and some of the other musicians who will play at the festival. "It's an integral part of the lives of the people of St. Louis."

Kociela, who also helps organize the annual Taste of St. Louis, said he came up with the idea of Bluesweek while attending New Orleans' famed Jazz and Heritage Festival.

"I had this epiphany, like, 'We can do something like this, on this scale, in St. Louis,'" he said.

The new Bluesweek will overlap on Labor Day Weekend with the established Big Muddy Blues Festival, now in its 15th year at Laclede's Landing.

Emily Kochan, a Big Muddy spokeswoman, noted the differences between the two festivals. Namely, Big Muddy brings in national and regional acts while Bluesweek is focusing on local artists, and Big Muddy's entertainment is free while there is either a $5-$10 charge or suggested donation to the St. Louis Blues Society for most Bluesweek events.

"But," Kochan said, "it's great that there will be even more things going on in town for blues lovers. It makes St. Louis even more of a blues destination."

Mack Bradley, a Bluesweek spokesman, echoed that sentiment.

"If there's one thing St. Louis has proven, it's that our city hasn't reached capacity for its appreciation of the blues," he said.

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Find more information about Bluesweek at stlbluesweek.com.