Every July, the riverside town of Upton upon Severn becomes the Delta as the Upton Blues Festival comes to town. Three main stages and a dozen independent venues host an impressive roster of gigs over a long weekend, showcasing everything from blues rock to bluegrass, country blues to New Orleans, acoustic roots to Soul – and even a gospel choir!
And the best bit – every single performance in every venue is absolutely FREE: yep – gratis, nada, buckshee. In fact, UBF is the biggest free blues festival in the UK. And it’s also the best, with a string of prestigious awards collected over more than two decades. Including being a three time winner of the UK Blues Awards “Best Blues Based Festival” in the UK, we are now in the UK Blues Awards “Hall of Fame”
What marks it out from other festivals is the way that it takes over the whole of this beautiful Worcestershire town: Upton upon Severn isn’t just a location – it IS the festival, with pubs, clubs, shops and churches all joining the dots between the three main stages.
Those official stages host top-class performers from around the world: the Riverside Stage features full-on entertainment; the Meadow Stage across town has a more chilled vibe, and the atmospheric Acoustic Roots stage brings an impressive church alive with mellow sound and light.
There’s a festival campsite, sadly this is not free, for those who want to make a weekend of it: the facilities here are first-class, and it even has its own exclusive stage and campsite village to keep the campers happy.
It’s an easy walk to the town from the campsite, but there’s the option of a free-to-ride land train to get you from one end of the town to the other, and a courtesy trailer on the campsite to help any tired legs.
To enhance the Americana feel of the weekend, there’s an American car show and parade, featuring a dazzling array of chrome and fins on some mid to late 20th century classics.
But most of all, there’s the music – and a real effort to make sure there’s something for everyone, by reflecting the blues in its widest sense: from rootsy sounds worthy of a New Orleans speakeasy to blues meets funk, soul and rock. With over 150 free performances across the weekend, you’re bound to find something that’s right for you.
Upton Blues
