Blues & Jazz Festival

This section will include details of each years Blues & Jazz Festivals, a sort of rolling history of this big event. I highly recommend people visit the festival an action packed week of music and events for everyone to enjoy.

A huge free music event for the public to enjoy bringing you some of the best names in Jazz and Blues, from local groups to international.

- View list of all the posts on the Barbican Waterfront Website regarding the International Jazz and Blues Festival

Jazz & Blues Festival – 2013

Unfortunately there is no Jazz & Blues Festival for 2013, however plans are being made to bring this large event back to the Barbican in 2014.

More details here…

Jazz & Blues Festival – 2012

Plymouth International Blues & Jazz Festival 2012 – 27th to 29th July 2012.
Latest News: There would be a free stage at the West Pier and also two cruises – a Blues Cruise on a Saturday evening and a Jazz Cruise on Sunday afternoon. There would be no street parade this year, but there would be bands around the quayside and there are plans for a Jazz band who will be marching down from the City Centre.

The line-up for this event includes:
BLUES CRUISE: with harmonica and guitar men Johnny Mars & Michael Roach, with support from Thomas Ford*
JAZZ CRUISE: with gypsy jazzers Hamer & Isaacs, and free G&T, sponsored by Plymouth Gin
Son of Dave, beatbox blues mayhem with Rambunctious Social Club’s DJ Hod’guez supporting*
Mama Tokus soul-gospel-blues-comedy at The B-Bar
Becky Brine and the Threadbearz, at Plymouth Gin, playing dancefloor filling swing
Maggie Reeday, at Plymouth Gin, paying tribute to Louis Armstrong & Velma Middleton
*Buy your ticket to the Blues Cruise and you get £5 off entry to Son of Dave! What a deal!
ALL THE LINE-UP DETAILS ARE ON THE WEBSITE IN DETAIL
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RUNDOWN
BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR OUR TICKETED GIGS BY CLICKING HERE
FESTIVAL BACKGROUND
This year’s Festival complements Plymouth Classic Boat Rally and the Port of Plymouth Regatta and will create a host of quayside entertainment whilst picturesque boats moor up alongside, making a waterside bonanza of classic boats, dinghy sailing, yacht races and great music.
The Festival is staged by Kaos Production Ltd and supported by Plymouth City Council and (this year for the first time) Plymouth Waterfront Partnership.
The Festival has shifted from its position on the first Bank Holiday of May, where it’s been since it started in 2008. It has also changed format. This year, look out for free music on West Pier, beneath the Prawn on the Barbi, and music on the water as well as on land, including on a floating stage!

Jazz & Blues Festival – 2011

- Barbican Waterfront Jazz & Blues 2011 Gallery – 32 Photos
- Day 1, 29th April 2011 – Photos – view on Plymouth Post
- Day 2, 30th April 2011 – Photos – view on Plymouth Post
- Day 3, 1st May 2011 – Photos – view on Plymouth Post
- Day 4, 2nd May 2011 – Photos – view on Plymouth Post

Press Release – March 2011

Visitors to this year’s Barbican International Jazz and Blues Festival can enjoy browsing and bargain-hunting to a blues and jazz soundtrack.
This year’s brand new Festival Village incorporates an increased Festival Market, with quirky and captivating stalls selling arts, crafts, furnishings, fashion, food and lifestyle goods. There will also be a Festival merchandising stand, selling the music of the artistes featured in the event.
The Festival expanded last year with a market and was so successful that more stallholders are being added to make an exciting Festival Village, down on Commercial Wharf, The Barbican – right by the landing stage for the Mount Batten water taxi.
There will be a network of waterside venues linking together to create a buzzy atmosphere of free and ticketed gigs. Look out for gigs in the B-Bar, the Barbican Theatre, Plymouth Gin Distillery, the National Marine Aquarium, the Blues Bar and Grill, The Treasury, the Admiral MacBride, The Minerva and more.
“We had such a good response to the stalls last year that we decided to grow the Festival Market,” said Festival Director Dan Thompson.
“It creates a real buzz for the Festival and gives festival-goers plenty to explore when they’re not watching live music.
“The Festival is all about adding to the atmosphere that you get on the Barbican, and many people love coming here to browse here and walk around our streets, and this just adds to that.”
The Festival Village is a brand new addition to the Barbican International Jazz and Blues Festival and extends the event with a dedicated live music, licensed marquee which will be erected on Commercial Wharf.
The marquee will be the Festival’s main outdoor stage, with a rolling programme of excellent live local, national and international acts.
Entry to the marquee will be via new Festival Stroller Tickets, which are on sale from the Festival website and will be available for sale from the Barbican Tourist Information Centre in the run-up to the event, which goes from Friday April 29 to Monday May 2.
Festival-goers will be able to choose either:
(1) Weekend Stroller wristbands, for £40 each, giving unlimited access to the Festival Marquee every day and evening of the Festival
(2) Half-Day Stroller tickets, for £10 each, giving access to the Festival Marquee daily either from 11am to 7pm, or from 7pm until 11pm.
There will also be a limited number of tickets for each marquee gig, priced at £6, on sale at the marquee entrance just before each gig.
Stroller tickets will be available for sale from the Barbican Tourist Information Centre in the run-up to the Festival.
This year’s event
The fourth annual Barbican International Jazz and Blues Festival is supported by Plymouth City Council and backed by the Plymouth Waterfront Partnership and brings excellent music and a groovy atmosphere to the city’s historic quayside quarter.
This year, the event takes place over the four days of the first May Bank Holiday weekend – including an extra Royal Wedding Bank Holiday too.
There will be a network of waterside venues linking together to create a buzzy atmosphere of free and ticketed gigs. Look out for gigs in the B-Bar, the Barbican Theatre, Plymouth Gin Distillery, the National Marine Aquarium, the Blues Bar and Grill, the Admiral MacBride and The Glassblowing House.
The Festival brings together local and international acts from across the spectrum of jazz and blues. Headliners this year include piano man T J Johnson, keyboard crooner Joe Stilgoe, sax-funkers Porkchop and US guitar bluesman Michael Roach.
Local band highlights include Becca Langsford launching her new album, blues player Vince Lee, slide guitar man Thomas Ford and his band the Dirty Harmonies, gospel soul-singer Mama Tokus and jazz diva Louise Parker.
Swing Sunday
Swing Sunday pays homage to that section of jazz known as swing, which continues to appear in today’s charts – think Michael Bublé, Robbie Williams, Jamie Cullum – and we devote Sunday May 1 to this infectious genre.
Watch out for swing bands, swing dancing in the street, colourful costumes and singalong tunes. We’ve teamed up with Plymouth swing dance teaching outfit Mad About Swing to bring workshops and dance action to the Festival. Swing bands and performers are being programmed throughout the day to ensure that everyone’s a King of the Swingers by the time Swing Sunday’s over.
Bank Holiday Monday
The Festival incorporates the Bank Holiday Monday May 2. So organisers will be pulling out the stops to put on a fantastic day of music, street entertainment and the glorious Grand Festival Jazz Parade – complete with jazz umbrella waving.