The BluesBaltica promoters of Bluesfest Eutin certainly know how to run a festival. Founded in 1990 by Helge Nickel, who continues to run the festival, it is a free, four-day, world-class blues festival in the Eutin town center. Surrounded by the Marktplatz restaurants and coffee shops, the festival has become one of the most well-known cultural activities of the Schleswig-Holstein region and the biggest in Germany. Each year, more than 15,000 fans jam the festival to enjoy blues acts from over 20 countries. Major performers since 2008 have included American blues musicians Bryan Lee, James Harman, Diunna Greenleaf, Marquise Knox, Reba Russell, Zakiya Hooker, Moreland & Arbuckle, and Lurrie Bell, and hundreds more from Europe, Canada, and other parts of the world. In 2012, the festival was titled Blues from All Continents and featured blues musicians from every continent. To creatively help finance this free festival, local teenage girls walk through the crowd each day asking for donations. For one euro you get a colored sticker; for a larger donation you get a free CD. By the end of the four days, most every attendee is wearing multiple donation stickers.
