The Swanage Blues Festival returns to Dorset

The Swanage Blues Festival brings together a vast collection of blues musicians to perform in various pubs in the area as well as holiday parks and golf clubs.

Punters at the Red Lion in Swanage will be the first to enjoy the festivities, as blues and jazz guitarist and singer Jon Walsh kicks the event off on Thursday, September 30.

More than 30 artists will perform during the festival, including The Blues Roots Soul Collective, Dawg ‘n’ Bonez and Pete Harris.

The Mustangs perform at the White Horse for the Swanage Blues Festival

The event concludes in the evening of Sunday, October 3 with a ‘festival finale’, showcasing Doghouse Blues who will perform at the White Swan in Swanage.

Founder and sole organiser Steve Darrington said: “We’ve all had a bumpy ride in the last 18 months due to you know what.

"Luckily, we managed to squeeze in the early March 2020 blues festival before the wheels came off and many performing artists were left grounded and fed up for months.

“The October festival looked possible for a while, but no, it wasn’t to be.

Steve Darrington at the Legion, Swanage Blues Festival 2017. Picture: dubbelXposure Photography

"So again, I put plans in place for March 2021 and that couldn’t happen either.

“We nearly didn’t have this one, but as restrictions were lifted, the sun came out and shone for a brief while before we were hit with a fuel crisis.

“But that’s the beauty of the blues.

"It’s music you play to make yourself and others feel good. It’s party music and that’s exactly what we put on here, every March and October, almost without fail and we’ve been at it for 20 years.

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Steve added: “Don’t come if you hate the blues, it’ll be a waste of fuel.

"Instead check out the videos on the festival website and if you do like what you see, give it a go some time.

“We look forward to seeing you here.”

Visit www.swanage-blues.org for more information.