Eric Clapton will be performing at Summerfest this year.

According to organizers, Clapton’s performance is slated to take place at Marcus Amphitheater at 7:30 pm on June 28. The winner of 18 Grammy awards, Clapton is well known for hit singles such as “Tears in Heaven,” “Wonderful Tonight,” “Cocaine,” and “Layla.”

Roger Daltrey from the Who will be opening for Clapton.

Tickets will be going on sale at noon on April 10. Purchases can be made via Ticketmaster ticket centers or online as well as Marcus Amphitheater’s Box Office.

Summerfest this year will be held June 24-July 4.

Starting March 15, unsigned musicians will be able to enter the contest for Ernie Ball Play Crossroads at playcrossroads.com for an opportunity to perform live at the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival on Ernie Ball Village Stage. Eric Clapton’s festival will take place in Chicago at Toyota Park on June 26 and be presented by T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G.

The festival will run all day and benefit Crossroads Centre Antigua. Featured performers include ZZ Top, Vince Gill, Steve Winwood, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, BB King and The Allman Brothers Band.

The contest is hosted by Reverb Nation and Guitar Center, partners of Ernie Ball. To enter musicians will need to go to playcrossroads.com and register. A profile can be created and a bio, photos and one to five MP2 files can be included. The winner will be receiving round trip airfare and hotel in Chicago along with a performance slot of 30 minutes on Ernie Ball Village Stage. Robert Randolph and Joe Bonamassa will be also be holding master class sessions on the stage. The winner will also be receiving a full endorsement from Ernie Ball Music Man,which is a Premier Guitar feature, along with Guitar Center prizes.

Brian Ball from Ernie Ball Inc said, we are very honored being associated with Crossroads Guitar Festival and Eric Clapton. It’s very important to us to support the charitable efforts of Eric Clapton and Crossroads Centre. We are very excited to offer an unsigned band the opportunity for playing live along with the legendary guitar players at the festival.

Fans will also have a chance for helping to select the winner. They can go to playcrossroads.com and vote for their favorite musician. The panel of judges, which will consist of contest sponsors and representatives from Ernie Ball, will be reviewing the top 500 artists and bands that have the most votes. The winner will be selected by the judges based on songwriting, authenticity, originality and musicianship.

The first contest winner for Ernie Ball Play Crossroads was Tyler Dow Bryant, who was a sixteen year old prodigy then. He performed at the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival, the last to be held. He went on to play with Dickey Betts, Alan Haynes, Wes Jeans, Sean Neff, Donnie and Don Nelson, Steve Lukather, Albert Lee, Brent Rowan, Chris Duarte, Edie Brickell and Paul Simon.