[E]ighty-three musicians, 60 performances and five venues – so there’s only one place to be this weekend for hundreds of music fans.
And that’s Keswick where the Lakeland town’s annual Jazz & Blues Festival is taking place from today (THURS) through to Sunday.
Organiser Ian Jones has dashed back from Ibiza to make sure everything is ready for his home town event, having been working at the Costa Del Folk Festival last week.
The emphasis switches to jazz and blues for the next four days in Keswick, with performances by international stars like New Orleans-based Marla Dixon and top trumpet player Enrico Tomasso.
The packed programme also includes several free open sessions in Keswick’s Market Place, starting with the opening event this morning (THURS) during Keswick market. Another highlight is Saturday morning’s Brolly Parade from the lake to the town centre.
“The festival has been going 27 years but this is only my second one in charge,” said Ian, 57, who organises it on a voluntary basis. “I took over when the Theatre by the Lake dropped out, added blues to what was originally just a jazz festival and we haven’t looked back,” added the sound engineer, musician and music lover who runs his own company called Higher Sound Ltd.
The Theatre by the Lake remains one of the main venues in Keswick, along with the Alhambra Cinema, Skiddaw Hotel and The Loft nightclub. The festival got underway with a sponsors’ event last night (WEDS). For more information, go to keswickjazzandbluesfestival .co.uk.
