is coming to the

, and with him a big change in how the business of getting into the festival works.

For the first time, you'll need to

if you want to be on hand July 7 -- they're calling it Sensational Sunday -- when Plant, Mavis Staples, Taj Mahal, and Robert Randolph and the Family Band close the festival.

Those passes, which go on sale Tuesday if you've signed up for the festival's email list or engaged on Facebook, range from $50 for basic four-day entry to $1,250 for a pass loaded with extras and access.

More simply put: You need a Sunday ticket this year. Whether you use that ticket to go all four days, or just the one, you're buying a ticket for Sunday, and legends like Plant and Staples.

The first three days of the festival, which begins July 4, will continue to request a donation of $10 per person and two cans of food for entry.

There's nothing unique about needing a ticket to go to a concert, but the blues festival is unlike any other music event in the area, because it's mission is unique. The Waterfront Blues Festival is produced by the Oregon Food Bank for the Oregon Food Bank.

Because the food bank assists those in need -- and because it's held at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, a public park -- they've always wanted to keep it accessible. A lot of people pay the suggested donation. Some pay more. Some pay none. That's the give-and-take the food bank has accepted.

Waterfront Blues Festival Passes

For the first time, you'll have to buy a pass (good for four days) if you want to attend the final day of the Waterfront Blues Festival.

Presale begins Tuesday. To be eligible:

, or

Like the festival

Last year, they estimated more than 120,000 people attended the five days, and they collected $902,000 at the gate (to go with 116,000 pounds of food). All those numbers would have been higher but for entry to the park being limited to one in, one out after it filled early in anticipation of the Steve Miller Band.

That back up -- it stretched down Naito Parkway to the Morrison Bridge at one point -- played a role in this year's decision to go passes-only on Sunday.

"For this lineup, for this day, requiring a pass was the best possible answer," said Laura Golino de Lovato, the food bank's director of development.

It should help the bottom line, too.

Golino de Lovato says they'll initially offer a total of 15,000 passes. If those sell out, they'll put 2,000 more on sale, as they figure Waterfront Park's bowl can handle roughly 17,000 people.

The passes aren't new. They've been around since at least 2003, the food bank said, and it's been in the last five years that they've added benefits (such as guaranteed re-entry) and done more to publicize their availability.

"I think people thought, 'I can drop in and go without buying a ticket,'' Golino de Lovato said.

And they could in the past, except when they couldn't. And that lineup on Sunday this year is sure to fill it, and so if ever there was a time to go pass-only, this was it. But it is a big change.

Here's how the weekend's schedule looks. Remember, passes are only required for Sunday.

Thursday July, 4:

Joe Louis Walker, March Fourth Marching Band, Too Slim & the Taildraggers, harmonica blow-off, fireworks.

Friday July 5:

Eric Burdon and the Animals, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Allen Stone, Hot 8 Brass Band.

Saturday July 6:

John Hiatt and the Combo, North Mississippi Allstars, Nikki Hill, day-long Zydeco Swamp Romp with Chubby Carrier, Horace Trahan.

Sunday July 7:

Robert Plant presenting the Sensational Shape Shifters, Taj Mahal, Mavis Taples, Robert Randolph and the Family Band.