List of blues festivals

Blues festivals are music festivals which focus on blues music. Blues is a genre ^[1] and musical form that originated in African-American communities in the Southern United States around the end of the 19th century. It has elements of traditional African music, American folk music, spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. ^[2] Blues has since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a wide variety of styles and subgenres, such as country blues, Delta and Piedmont, Chicago, West Coast blues. World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners.

List of blues festivals

North America

Canada

Main article: List of blues festivals in Canada

Name	City	First year
Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival	Fredericton	1991
Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival	Salmon Arm	1991
Ottawa Bluesfest	Ottawa	1994
Bluesfest International Windsor	Windsor	1995
Edmonton's Labatt Blues Festival	Edmonton	1999

United States

List of blues festivals with name, first year, last year, city, and reference(s)

Name	First year	Last year	city	Ref(s)
Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival	1969	intermittent	Ann Arbor
Billtown Blues Musical Festival	1990	present	Hughesville	[3]
Blast Furnace Blues Festival	2011	present	Bethlehem	[4]
Blues Masters at the Crossroads	1998	present	Salina	[5]
Boundary Waters Blues Festival	2001	present	Ely	[6]
Bradenton Blues Festival	2012	present	Bradenton	[7]
Briggs Farm Blues Festival	1998	present	Hazleton	[8]
Chicago Blues Festival	1984	present	Chicago	[9]
Cincy Blues Fest	1992	intermittent	Cincinnati	[10]
Crossroads Guitar Festival	1999	intermittent	various	[11]
Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival	1991	present	Rentiesville	[12]
French Quarter Festival	1984	present	New Orleans	[13]
Heritage Music BluesFest	2000	present	Wheeling	[14]
Highland Jazz & Blues Festival	2003	present	Shreveport	[15]
Memphis In May International Festival	1977	present	Memphis	[16]
King Biscuit Blues Festival	1986	present	Helena	[17]
Long Beach Blues Festival	1980	2009	Long Beach
Old Town BluesFest	1994	present	Lansing	[18]
Orange County Blues Festival	1993	intermittent	Dana Point	[19]
Pittsburgh Blues Festival	1994	present	Pittsburgh	[20]
Red Bank Jazz & Blues Festival	1987	2016	Red Bank
San Francisco Blues Festival	1973	2008	San Francisco	[21]
Springing the Blues	1990	present	Jacksonville Beach	[22]
Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival	1988	present	Clarksdale	[23]
Telluride Blues & Brews Festival	1994	present	Telluride	[24]
Topanga Canyon Blues Festival	1982	intermittent	Topanga Canyon	[25]
Waterfront Blues Festival	1987	present	Portland	[26]

Oceania

Name	First year	City
Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival	2011	Bendigo, Australia
Blues on Broadbeach Music Festival	2002	Gold Coast, Australia
Blues Train	1993	Queenscliff, Australia
Byron Bay Bluesfest	1990	Byron Bay, Australia
Dingo Creek Jazz and Blues Festival	2002	Gympie, Australia
West Coast Blues & Roots Festival	2004	Fremantle, Australia
Marysville Jazz and Blues Weekend	2014	Marysville, Australia

Asia

Name	First year	City
Himalayan Blues Festival	2007	Kathmandu, Nepal
Kathmandu Blues n Roots Festival	2016	Kathmandu, Nepal
Mahindra Blues Festival	2011	Mumbai, India

Europe

Name	First year	City
Orkney Blues Festival	2005	Stromness, Scotland
Bluesroute Helmond	2011	Helmond, Netherlands [27]
Holland International Blues Festival	2016	Grolloo, Netherlands [28]
National Jazz and Blues Festival	1961	London, England
Focsani Blues Festival	2016	Focșani, Romania
Blues Peer (Belgium Rythmn 'n' Blues)	1986	Peer, Belgium
American Folk Blues Festival	1962	Europe
Bath Festival of Blues 1969	1969	Bath, England
Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music	1970	Bath, England
Puistoblues	1978	Järvenpää, Finland
Rawa Blues Festival	1981	Katowice, Poland
Liri Blues Festival	1988	Isola del Liri, Italy
Pistoia Blues Festival	1980	Pistoia, Italy
Kwadendamme Bluesfestival	1993	Kwadendamme, Netherlands
Blues to Bop Festival	1988	Lugano, Switzerland
Notodden Blues Festival	1988	Notodden, Norway
Harvest Time Blues	1990	Monaghan, Ireland
August Blues Festival	1993	Haapsalu, Estonia
Upton Blues Festival	2001	Upton-on-Severn, England
City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival	2002	Derry, Northern Ireland
Dark Season Blues	2003	Longyearbyen, Norway
Callander Jazz and Blues Festival	2006	Callander, Scotland
Stafford Blues Festival	2015	Stafford, England
Blues Nights	1993	Varniai, Lithuania
Blues-Bike Festival Suzdal	2008	Suzdal, Russia
Baltic Blues / Bluesfest	1989	Eutin, Germany
Brunner Blues Festival / Bluesfest	2007	Brunn am Gebirge, Austria [29]
Santa Maria Blues	2004	Santa Maria Island, Portugal
Suwalki Blues Festival / Bluesfest	2007	Poland [30]
Moulin Blues Ospel	1986	Ospel, Netherlands [31]

See also

• Blues portal

References

1. Kunzler's dictionary of Jazz provides two separate entries: blues, an originally African-American genre (p.128), and the blues form, a widespread musical form (p.131).
2. "The Evolution of Differing Blues Styles". How To Play Blues Guitar. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
3. "Billtown Blues Music Festival". billtownblues.org. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
4. "Blast Furnace Blues". Steelstacks.org. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
5. "Blues Masters at the Crossroads". Blueheavenstudios.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
6. "Boundary Waters Blues Festival". Elyblues.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
7. "Bradenton Bluesfest". Bradentonbluesfestival.org. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
8. "Briggs Farm Blues Festival". Briggsfarm.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
9. "Chicago Blues Festival". Chicago.gov. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
10. "Cincy Blues Fest". Cincybluesfest.org. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
11. "Crossroads Guitar Festival". Crossroadsguitarfestival.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
12. "Rentiesville Dusk til Dawn Blues Festival". Dcminnerblues.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
13. "French Quarter Festival". Frenchquarterfest.org. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
14. "Heritage Music BluesFest". heritagemusicfest.com. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
15. "Highland Jazz & Blues Festival". Highlandjazzandblues.org. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
16. "Memphis In May International Festival". memphisinmay.org. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
17. "King Biscuit Blues Festival". Kingbiscuitfestival.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
18. "Michigan Bluesfest". Oldtownbluesfest.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
19. Messina, Frank (July 8, 1994). "O.C. Blues Festival Creators Locking Horns in Court". Latimes.com . Retrieved July 15, 2019.
20. "Pittsburgh Blues and Roots Festival". Pghbluesrootsfest.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
21. "The San Francisco Blues Festival". Sfblues.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
22. "Springing the Blues Festival". Springingtheblues.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
23. "Welcome to the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival". Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival.
24. "Telluride Blues & Brews Festival". Tellurideblues.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
25. "Topanga Blues Festival". Scbevents.org. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
26. "Waterfront Blues Festival". Waterfrontbluesfest.com. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
27. "Bluesroute Helmond". Bluesroutehelmond.nl. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
28. "HIBF – Home". Hollandinternationalbluesfestival.com. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
29. "Int. Brunner Boogie & Blues Festival". Brunner Boogie & Blues Festival (in Austrian German). Kulturreferat der Marktgemeinde Brunn am Gebirge. Archived from the original on 2016-06-26.
30. "Suwałki Blues Festival". Suwalkiblues.com. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
31. "Moulin Blues Ospel Website". Moulinblues.nl. Retrieved 2024-04-20.