Well, guys and girls, we’re back! Colne Blues Society – the team of hard-working Blues lovers who volunteered to bring you last year’s Official Fringe – is proud to have been chosen by Colne Town Council to take over the role of Artistic Director for The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival 2023 and 2024!
We had an absolute blast putting together the live music schedule for 13 venues across 4 days over August Bank Holiday last year, and we cannot wait to do it all again – this time with direction over the main festival, too!
“It’s an honour to be given the opportunity to take over the creative direction of the festival in its entirety, which holds a special place in the heart of every Colne Blues Society member, and which we know is the premier event in Colne’s calendar,” says Festival Coordinator, Simon Shackleton.
“We’ve wasted no time in getting to work on developing an exciting festival programme packed with some of the most influential and up-and-coming blues acts in the UK blues scene. Programming for our main stage at the Pendle Hippodrome is already well under way, with teaser announcements being dropped regularly in the coming weeks. Keep your eye on our social media pages and website to stay in the loop with the latest acts as they’re confirmed.
“We’re also incredibly excited to announce that we have secured a second mainstage venue. We don’t want to give too much away at this point, but needless to say we’re really pleased to have it as part of the festival circuit, and we look forward to sharing the details with everyone soon!
“Of course, this festival wouldn’t be what it is without our incredible Official Fringe venues, which we’re pleased to say are all on board and ready to make The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival 2023 even bigger and better than it was last year, when we welcomed over 30,000 people to the town.
“We’re currently putting our heads together and brainstorming some ideas for acts we’d like to showcase on the Fringe circuit this year. Programming for the Fringe venues will start in the coming weeks, and we’ve had blues acts from near and far get in touch to be considered for our Fringe stages.”
Amongst the acts already announced are The Emma Wilson Blues Band (UKBlues Federation’s Emerging Artist of the Year 2022), electric blues rockers The John Montana Trio, incredible singer-songwriter Alice Armstrong (UK Blues Awards 2022 Blues Vocalist of the Year), and Dom Martin & Band (Uk Blues Awards 2022 Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year).
We’re in for a real treat this August Bank Holiday weekend! To make sure you don’t miss out on the action, get your hands on a ticket here.
we will be stopping outside of colne, do we still need tickets or is it an open venue
thanks
Main stage tickets can be purchased from https://www.bluesfestival.co.uk/tickets/
These cover the two ticketed venues:
Pendle Hippodrome Stage
Exchange Project Stage
Entry to the Official Fringe Venues is free, although donations to support the event can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/colnebluessociety