Blues festivals are music festivals which focus on blues music. Blues is a genreKunzler'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). 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. 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
Name City FirstyearHarvest Jazz & Blues Festival Fredericton 1991Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival Salmon Arm 1991Ottawa Bluesfest Ottawa 1994Bluesfest International Windsor Windsor 1995Edmonton's Labatt Blues Festival Edmonton 1999
United States + List of blues festivals with name, first year, last year, city, and reference(s) Name Firstyear Lastyear city Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival 1969 intermittent Ann Arbor Billtown Blues Musical Festival1990presentHughesville Blast Furnace Blues Festival 2011 present Bethlehem Blues Masters at the Crossroads 1998 present Salina Boundary Waters Blues Festival 2001 present Ely Bradenton Blues Festival 2012 present Bradenton Briggs Farm Blues Festival 1998 present Hazleton Chicago Blues Festival 1984 present Chicago Cincy Blues Fest 1992 intermittent Cincinnati Crossroads Guitar Festival 1999 intermittent various Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival 1991 present Rentiesville French Quarter Festival 1984 present New Orleans Heritage Music BluesFest 2000 present Wheeling Highland Jazz & Blues Festival 2003 present Shreveport Memphis In May International Festival 1977 present Memphis King Biscuit Blues Festival 1986 present Helena Long Beach Blues Festival 1980 2009 Long Beach Old Town BluesFest 1994 present Lansing Orange County Blues Festival 1993 intermittent Dana Point Pittsburgh Blues Festival 1994 present Pittsburgh Red Bank Jazz & Blues Festival 1987 2016 Red Bank San Francisco Blues Festival 1973 2008 San Francisco Springing the Blues 1990 present Jacksonville Beach Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival1988presentClarksdale Telluride Blues & Brews Festival 1994 present Telluride Topanga Canyon Blues Festival 1982 intermittent Topanga Canyon Waterfront Blues Festival 1987 present Portland
Oceania Name Firstyear CityBendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival 2011 Bendigo, AustraliaBlues on Broadbeach Music Festival 2002 Gold Coast, AustraliaBlues Train 1993 Queenscliff, AustraliaByron Bay Bluesfest 1990 Byron Bay, AustraliaDingo Creek Jazz and Blues Festival 2002 Gympie, AustraliaWest Coast Blues & Roots Festival 2004 Fremantle, AustraliaMarysville Jazz and Blues Weekend 2014 Marysville, AustraliaAgnes Water Blues Fest 2008 Agnes Water, Australia
Asia Name Firstyear CityHimalayan Blues Festival 2007 Kathmandu, NepalKathmandu Blues n Roots Festival 2016 Kathmandu, NepalMahindra Blues Festival 2011 Mumbai, India
Europe Name Firstyear CityOrkney Blues Festival2005Stromness, ScotlandBluesroute Helmond2011Helmond, NetherlandsHolland International Blues Festival2016Grolloo, Netherlands National Jazz and Blues Festival 1961 London, EnglandFocsani Blues Festival2016Focșani, Romania Blues Peer (Belgium Rythmn 'n' Blues) 1986 Peer, BelgiumAmerican 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 Aglientu Summer Blues Festival 2008 Alghero, ItalyLiri Blues Festival 1988 Isola del Liri, ItalyPistoia Blues Festival 1980 Pistoia, ItalyKwadendamme Bluesfestival 1993 Kwadendamme, NetherlandsBlues 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 Santa Maria Blues 2004 Santa Maria Island, Portugal Suwalki Blues Festival / Bluesfest 2007 Poland Moulin Blues Ospel 1986 Ospel, Netherlands
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References