Suwałki Blues Festival is the most important event in Poland. Every year in the first half of July Suwałki becomes the capital of blues of the world, attracting almost twenty thousand of fans from Poland and abroad. During only five years SBF gained the opinion of the biggest and the most esteemed open-air blues event in Poland and north-east Europe.
Many guests from region of the Baltic Sea come to the festival (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Russia) and other European country (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Czech Republic) and event from the birthplace of blues – the United States. SBF had its solid fans and frequent visitors, who emphasize the unbelievable presence of the blues in the urban part of Suwałki throughout the whole day. Starting from the blues breakfast, through concerts on the street stages and the main open-air performances on big stages in the centre of the city, to the evening club parties joined with the jam session.
Festival includes a lot of music workshop, photographic blues publishing houses exhibition and music equipment. The performers, who have so far played host with their concerts in Suwałki, show the importance of the festival. The list of the most important includes the following names: JOE BONAMASSA (USA), CANNED HEAT (USA), TEN YEARS AFTER (UK), MICK TAYLOR (ex-John Mayall, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, UK), GLENN HUGHES (UK), THE YARDBIRDS (UK), ANA POPOVIC (SR), THE BLUES BAND (UK), JULIAN SAS (NL), JEREMY SPENCER (ex-Fleetwood Mac, UK), SUPER CHIKAN (USA) & SPOONFUL OF BLUES (NO), DWAYNE DOPSIE & THE ZYDECO HELLRAISERS (USA), TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT (USA), BIG GILSON & THE BLUES DYNAMITE (BR), STUDEBAKER JOHN & THE HAWKS (USA), NINA VAN HORN (USA/FR), KNUT REIERSRUD BAND (NO), KHALIF WAILIN’ WALTER (USA), BLUES MAKERS (LT), COMPROMISE BLUE (EE), JESUS VOLT (FR) and the lead of the national blues and blues and rock scene.
This year’s sixth edition of the festival will take place from 11th to 13th July. There will perform as many as 30 artists from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, France, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. All together there will be two hundred musicians. Through the full three days from Thursday to Sunday in the entire Suwałki will resound with the blues. On the very first day in the evening, for a good start and whet your music appetite there will be a music open-air happening with the participation of BLUES ESTER from Grande-Synthe (FR) and club concert of the acoustic band UNION OF BLUES (LT/PL) in front of the new building of Cultural Centre in Suwałki. In the evening the will be a strong beat, ticketed concert of world-famous violinist, saxophonist and composer MICHAŁ URBANIAK, who will perform with his daughter MIKKA URBANIAK in a special programme. For the first time in the history of the festival, this concert will take place under the roof, on the one of the most modern scenes in this part of Europe, which will be theatrical and concert hall of Cultural Centre in Suwałki.
From the morning in Friday and Saturday, the organizers will serve the guests of the festival the blues breakfast at which they could satisfy the live blues music. In the places of entertainment in Suwałki the following bands will perform: HOODOO BAND (PL), THE RHYTHM CHIEFS (NL), BOB DER BLUESMEISTER (DE/PL), JUTAS & BELKIN DUO (LT), HARPCORE (PL), NIE STRZELAĆ DO PIANISTY & CHEAP TOBACCO (PL), THE BLUESTOWN KINGS FEAT, JOSTEIN FORSBERG, MORTEN OMLID & TROND YTTERBO (NO) and MOJO (PL). In the menu there are almost exclusively blues dishes.
In the afternoon, the organizers invite you to chamber open-air concert in the scenery of the old town of Suwałki. On the scenes next to Chłodna and Kościuszko Street will perform both Polish bands and the guests from Ireland, Latvia, Sweden and Portugal. There will perform: BOGDAN SZWEDA & EASY RIDER (PL), THE JAN GAŁACH BAND (PL), SZULERZY (PL), WHY DUCKY? (PL), MONA JOHANSSON DUO (SE), TOM PORTMAN (IE), WILLIE MAE UNIT (PL), EL TRIO (LV), JJL TRIO (PL) and TRES HOMBRES (PL/PO).
Friday’s and Saturday’s open-air concerts on the two main stages of the festival in the historic city centre will traditionally be open for the public. They will start at 5 p.m. and last to 10 p.m. We will see and hear the biggest stars of the blues scene, including:
JACK BRUCE & HIS BIG BLUES BAND (UK), the legendary bassist of the cult trio Cream, composer and instrumentalist, he worked with the following artists: John Mayall, Lou Reed, Frank Zappa or Charlie Watts.
THE DANA FUCHS BAND (USA), singer, who is compared to such rock legends as Janis Joplin or Mick Jagger.
HUNDRED SEVENTY SPLIT (UK) feat. Joe Gooch & Leo Lyons from Ten Years After, it is a new project of musicians from the band Ten Years After.
HENRIK FREISCHLADER BAND (DE), one of the most famous guitarists of the European blues scene.
ERIC GALES BAND (USA/PL), the American blues and rock guitarist, who was acclaimed a child prodigy; while he is playing you can hear the infulence of Jimi Hendrix.
SCANDINAVIAN BLUES & ROOTS REVUE (SE/DK/NO), a special blues project of musicians from Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
LAYLA ZOE (CAN), blues singer; you cannot pass by her indifferently; she is often compared to Janis Joplin because of her severe and full of emotions behaviour on stage.
The concerts are mainly lead by the well-known blues journalists such as Jan Chojnacki (Polish Radio, Program III) and Andrzej Jerzyk (Kalisz Centre Radio, Area Blues Forum and portal www.blues.com.pl).
A perfect complement to the festival’s emotions will be the evening’s club concerts and night jam session at the restaurants and pubs. There will perform: HOODOO BAND (PL), THE RHYTHM CHIEFS (NL), HARPCORE (PL) and NIE STRZELAĆ DO PIANISTY & CHEAP TOBACCO (PL). Fans of the more climate type of blues will be able to listen to: JUTAS & BELKIN DUO (LT), BOB DER BLUESMEISTER (DE/PL), THE BLUESTOWN KINGS feat. JOSTEIN FORSBERG, MORTEN OMLID & TROND YTTERBO (NO) and MOJO (PL).
Suwalki Blues Festival 2013 is organized by the City of Suwalki and Suwalki Cultural Centre as part of the program “Promotion of cultural and artistic diversity, as part of the European cultural heritage”. The program is carried out with support from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway within the EOG Funds.
For more information visit: Suwałki Blues Festival