Line-up announced for 2023 Great British R&B Festival

Organisers of the 2023 Great British R&B Festival, Colne Town Council in partnership with Colne Blues Society, have announced a star-studded line-up for this year’s event showcasing the very best of blues music and the genres talented future stars.

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, whose pervasive blend of inspired songwriting and memorable performances has seen them enrapture audiences from around the world.

Visitors to this year’s event will also get to see the likes of acoustic blues artist of the year Dom Martin, multi UK-blues awards nominated singer-songwriter Alice Armstrong, 2022 emerging artist of the year Emma Wilson, and three time young artist of the year Connor Selby, plus many more.

Colne Blues Society, who are programming the festival in 2023 and 2024, have also showcased quality local talent in their exciting line up, including The Hiding Magpies, J-Bear and The Giants, The Imperials and more!

You can head to the Great British R&B Festival to learn more about this year’s full line-up: https://www.bluesfestival.co.uk/lineups/

Once again, this year’s festival is being sponsored by main sponsors Barnfield Construction Ltd, with the North West based contractors, developers and investors proud sponsors of the highly successful event in 2022, which saw over 30,000 people visit Colne over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Returning this year from 25th-27th August, full festival tickets are priced at just £100, working out at just £3 per band over the weekend, while individual day tickets are also available, alongside camping tickets.

All tickets can be purchased online here: https://www.bluesfestival.co.uk/tickets/

Alongside the two main venues, Colne Blues Society will also be programming the Official Fringe Festival which will see blues and rock acts from all over the UK performing across 12 Official Fringe venues, which are free to attend.

Nathan Cutler, Colne Town Council’s events officer, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the full line-up which has been produced by Colne Blues Society for the 2023 Great British R&B Festival, and we can’t wait for August already!

“The line-up features a fantastic range of blues talent including the very best artists in blues music right now, and we will BE proud to see them performing here in Colne.”

Simon Shackleton, festival coordinator at Colne Blues Society, added: “When we were chosen as Artistic Director for the 2023 and 2024 Great British R&B Festival, we were keen to develop an exciting festival programme packed with some of the most influential and up-and-coming blues acts in the UK blues scene, and we are thrilled to say we have achieved that.

“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. We hope everyone enjoys the line-up and 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.