The music continued into the night today at the Levitt Pavilion, host to the musical acts performing at the Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival in Westport. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) J.C. Martin for WestportNow.com

Dumpstaphunk, a funky band from New Orleans, entertained today at the Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival in Westport. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) J.C. Martin for WestportNow.com

Crowds came early to this year’s 8th annual Blues, Views and BBQ Festival at the Westport Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts and settled in for a day and night of music. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photos

Games, slides, and other entertainment was available today for youngsters at the Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival in Westport. The event runs until 10 p.m. and resumes Sunday at 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service Crew Chief Andrew Dinitz cooks up entries today for the barbecue competition at the Westport Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival. Helping out is Rob Pocious. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Chef Matt Storch of Match in Norwalk serves up samples today at the CtBites.com booth at the Westport Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival. Chefs from area restaurants were scheduled to appear throughout today and Sunday (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Scenes from today’s opening day of the 8th annual Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival in Westport sponsored by the Westport Downtown Merchants Association. Dave Matlow and J.C. Martin for WestportNow.com and WestportNow photos

All was ready in the Westport Library parking lot today and adjacent Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts for the 8th annual Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. today and Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.  Click here for more information. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Bob Eckman for WestportNow.com

Inflatables were laid out today in the Westport Library parking lot in preparation for this weekend’s eighth edition of Blues, Views, and BBQ Fest. The two-day event is expected to attract thousands to the Levitt Pavilion and adjacent areas. Click here for details on the fest.  CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Malow for WestportNow.com

Today’s Westport Arts Center (WAC) ArtCafé featured a talk by ‘The New Yorker in Westport’ authors Eve Potts (c) and Andrew Bentley telling the inside story of their new book featuring 50 Westport-inspired covers of The New Yorker. The book grew out of a popular Westport Historical Society (WHS) exhibit last year showcasing many of the 767 covers produced by 17 New Yorker artists living in and around Westport from 1925 to 1989. (See WestportNow May 23, 2015) The exhibit will be reprised at the WHS beginning Sept. 25 in a new exhibit, “Talk of the Town.” Today’s ArtCafé was hosted by Helen Klisser During (l), WAC’s artistic director. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo