Colne prepares for return of popular Great British R&B Festival

The most talented blues artists in the UK will head to Colne over the August Bank Holiday weekend, as the popular Great British R&B Festival returns to East Lancashire.

The festival will feature over 30 artists across two stages including the Pendle Hippodrome and a brand new stage for 2023, The Exchange Project Stage. Headlining the 2023 festival will be award-winning, genre-defying, singer-songwriter Elles Bailey; one of the hottest contemporary blues guitarists and considered by many to be amongst the best in the world, Aynsley Lister; and soul, blues and rock legends Xander and The Peace Pirates.

Colne Blues Society, who are programming the festival this year and next, have also showcased quality local talent in their exciting line up, including J-Bear and The Giants, The Imperials and more!

The event, sponsored by Barnfield Construction Ltd, takes place from 25^th-27^th August, with limited full festival and individual day tickets remaining. The online ticket sale closes on Wednesday 23^rd August at 6:45pm. Tickets can also be purchased from Colne Town Hall, Monday-Friday (10am-4pm), as well as throughout the festival (10am-10pm), while they can also be purchased from the Pendle Hippodrome throughout the event.

To get your tickets, visit the festival website: https://www.bluesfestival.co.uk/tickets/

Those looking to make a weekend of it can take advantage of the tremendous campsite on offer at The Colne & Nelson Rugby Club. Full festival camping for a two-person tent works out at just £8.40 per night, while there are also opportunities for four-person tents and camper/caravans.

The campsite includes shower and toilet facilities, as well as food and drink facilities, while a shuttle bus will be running to and from the site throughout the festival. For those who prefer to travel on foot, the two main venues are just a 15-minute walk from the campsite.

Alongside the two main venues, Colne Blues Society will also be programming the Official Fringe Festival which will see over 130 performances across 14 Official Fringe venues, which are free to attend.

There will also be a number of fantastic attractions taking place along the Colne high street including buskers, a variety of food vendors and brilliant opportunities to #ShopLocal.

Colne Town Council have handed out over 100 #ShopLocal posters for local businesses to proudly display in their windows in the build-up to and throughout the event.

On top of that, a full line-up of family fun entertainment has been announced including performances from Elton Wrong and the Unicyclist Walkabout Entertainer, Blues Brothers Stilt Walkers, Musical Ruth on the magical mobile piano, the eye catching Mirror Men and the extremely popular LED Robot.

Nathan Cutler, Colne Town Council’s Events Officer, said: “The Great British R&B Festival is one of the stand-out events of the year, not just here in Colne, but across the whole of Lancashire.

 “Last year we welcomed 35,000 people to the town over the weekend and we are looking forward to going even bigger and better in 2023. We have so much going on, including performances from the very best blues artists in the UK, so much entertainment for all the family and amazing opportunities to #ShopLocal.”

Simon Shackleton, Festival Coordinator at Colne Blues Society, added: “We are so excited for the festival to start, it is going to be sensational!

“We are proud to have put together a line-up packed full of the very best current and upcoming blues artists in the UK, including some real legends such as Elles Bailey, Aynsley Lister and Xander and The Peace Pirates.

“Full festival tickets are priced at £100, that’s just £3 per artist, and with so many incredible live performances here in Colne, we would urge people to get their tickets now before it’s too late!”

To keep up-to-date with this year’s event, visit The Great British R&B Festival’s social media channels.