The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival, Britain’s largest and longest running event of its kind, is back with a bang under the new management of a Colne Town Council team, unveiling an extraordinary line-up of contemporary musicians at the very top of their game for this August Bank Holiday.
Tickets are now on sale for an eye-catching array of headliners led by current Grammy nominee and American Blues legend, Janiva Magness, alongside British Blues-Rock stars Joanne Shaw Taylor, King King and Aynsley Lister, together with master storyteller Ian Siegal and Texas-based funky Bluesman, Lucky Peterson.
“Since we decided to take the route of dropping the heritage acts, choosing instead to showcase the best of the contemporary Blues scene, we have been stunned by the response of musicians from around the world, asking to play here in Colne,” said Festival Director, Jason Elliott. “Every one of this summer’s headliners is supported by other acts who could just as easily be topping the bill themselves. We are now in a situation where we are being courted by other huge international bands looking for a slot in 2018 already, such has been the buzz around what we have been doing.”
During the day, the action will be centered around the Muni, the Hippodrome and Tom Attah’s Acoustic Blues Showcase at the Little Theatre, where a range of highly talented professional acts will rub shoulders with the cream of emerging young talent, selected by the Jessica Foxley Unsigned project, all available on a walkaround ticket letting Blues lovers choose their preferences.
Each of the daytime sessions will be topped off by a great band, hand picked for dancing to, before the venues close for a swift clean up and to let everyone get a quick bite to eat.
The evening sessions will be individual ticket-only shows, each one with three acts, all at the height of their powers, culminating with the headliners. Each one of these triple-billed shows will be priced lower than the standard entry ticket for just the headliner. “We appreciate the need for financial sustainability and to look after residents’ hard earned money,” said Cllr Joe Cooney, Chairman of the Blues Working Group, “but we also have a responsibility to provide the best possible services for them, so we’ve negotiated some great rates to bring these acts here at a lower cost to the public than normally seen anywhere else in the country.” Buy your tickets here www.ticketsource.co.uk/colne-town-council
