While the rain may have dampened what could have been a beautiful Saturday afternoon, it would take more than that to hold back the blues.

Die-hard blues fans and casual listeners alike flocked to Onset on Saturday to hear the blues as performed by a variety of acts in the 22nd Annual Onset Blues Festival.

"The day in general? Bleh," said blues lover Bob Foster of Great Barrington as he surveyed the stormy skies. "But they have good music."

The Blues Fest began with a pre-festival show in the Firehouse Cafe by Boston-based slide guitarist Lloyd Thayer after the rains forced the gig to be moved inside from Dudley Square.

The festival itself was headlined by renowned Chigaco blues band Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials and featured performances by Johnny Barnes and the Nightcrawlers, Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, the Fat City Band, and Rosemary's Baby Blues.

"It's great," said New Bedford's Michael Spoor. "I've been coming for 20-plus years and it's always the best."

"I love this little place," he added in reference to Onset.

While Wareham summer resident Bruce Collotta may not boast Spoor's 20 years of attendance, he says he has been a festival fan for at least the past five years.

"I love the blues. I come every year," he said. "The music's always really good. They've got a lot of good bands."

Paul Redmond, the lead singer of Fat City Band, said he enjoyed the festival despite the rain. Redmond said he has always felt that the blues held something special for him.

"It's just something visceral. It hits me right in the gut like no other music," he said. "It's tough to put into words. It just moves you."

Fat City Band wowed festival-goers with its fast and often upbeat set.

"A lot of people think the blues have got to be a bummer," said Redmond, "but sometimes it's exactly the opposite, and that's what we try to bring to the crowd."

Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, a Martha's Vineyard-based group, appeared to have drawn many fans to the festival, with some in the crowd calling them the "greatest band around." Festival emcee Bill Narkiewicz said they rank among his favorite bands of all time.

"There are a lot of blues lovers in this neighborhood," said Johnny Hoy, the group's lead singer. "This is always an approachable audience."

"We love this place," said Jeremy Berlin, the drummer for the Bluefish. "It's our third time at the festival."

"I love this town," added Berlin, "the way it's kind of intimate and not pretentious."