BluesFest at the Royal Albert Hall

Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, soul superstar Bobby Womack and Van “the Man” Morrison are among the headliners of this four-day musical extravaganza. The first full scale festival to take place inside London’s hallowed Royal Albert Hall, BluesFest is a celebration of this mighty musical genre from which modern popular music has evolved.

Now, in it’s third year the festival’s line-up is bursting with big names from the blues, jazz, soul, rhythm and blues and gospel scenes. During the day, blues-aficionados can enjoy intimate sessions from the likes of Fun Lovin’ Criminal Huey Morgan, legendary pub rock band Dr Feelgood, rock and roll icon Georgie Fame and rising star Marcus Bonfanti (think Jimmy Page meets George Harrison). Aside from the performances, music journalist David Hepworth will be hosting talks with music fans, artists and broadcasters and asking them to share their ‘ultimate vinyl collection’. There’s also the chance to trawl through the Royal Albert Hall’s impressive archive which includes memorabilia from Eric Clapton, The Stones, BB King, Muddy Waters and many more.

All this will whet your musical appetite for the main event – the evening concerts. Every night there’s a double bill of blues brilliance with the aforementioned headliners plus husky growler Chris Rea and American blues rockers the Tedeschi Trucks Band. BluesFest will also be paying tribute to late Memphis legend Bobby Bland, best known for tracks such as Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City (1974). Famous faces including Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall will perform Bland’s greatest hits. Fingers crossed that BB King (a long time friend and former Bluesfest headliner), makes an appearance.