Thousands of music fans will descend on Upton-upon-Severn this weekend from 21 – 23 July 2023 for the annual Blues Festival, and the chance to see more than 160 free gigs.
The event won “festival of the year” at the 2023 UK Blues Awards (for the 4th time, no less!): it takes place on three main stages throughout the town, and there are dozens more acts in the town’s pubs and bars.
The Riverside stage is for those who like to rock, whilst the Meadow Stage at the other end of town is a family-friendly space with a more chilled atmosphere. The town’s impressive parish church will become the Acoustic Roots Stage, where artists can celebrate blues heritage, or take the music to weird and wonderful new places.
Headline acts include Catfish, Hollie Rogers, King Size Slim, Hardwicke Circus, Ben Poole, Hamilton Loomis, Five Points Gang, Whiskey Rebellion, Babajack Trio and the Voices Unlimited Choir.
New for 2023 is a land train to carry visitors through town, whilst on the camp site there’s a specially-built trailer with seats to take campers to the outer reaches of the site. As usual, campers are offered high-quality toilet and shower facilities, catering, and a campers-only stage and bar.
Also new for this year is something different for the festival finale – one of the country’s top soul and funk covers bands to get people dancing in the streets, and send them away with a song and a smile.
The main road through town will be closed for much of the weekend so that visitors have safe and easy passage between the main venues, and a chance to check out the shops, restaurants and cafes. Independent research found that the Blues Festival generates more than £1m in revenue every year for local traders and businesses.
Admission to the festival is free all weekend, although there is a charge if you want to camp: the site opens from Wednesday, and you can find all the details and buy tickets on the festival web site linked below and keep up to date with the latest on the official Facebook Page.
Upton Blues
