The birth of the Blues Festival

Fans have snapped up tickets for a "blues cruise" to raise funds for the event, which will provide free music in the town's pubs during the third weekend in July 2002.

Stuart McEwan, licensee of the Anchor Inn and a member of the Barflys blues band, said organisers were delighted with ticket sales for the first fund-raiser, a Friday night cruise on the River Severn.

"Locally, there was good support. We sold 150 tickets in eight days, which was better than we had expected.

"We were very surprised at just how fast they went," he said.

Mr McEwan said the blues cruise, with music from the Barflys, was the first of a series of events to be held throughout the winter in the hope of raising enough money to promote the Blues Festival nationally.

"There has been a gap in the Upton events calendar since the Steam Rally moved to Welland and we think a Blues Festival would fill that gap," he said.

"We have talked to all the licensees and they have agreed to provide the music free of charge, so it will be a free festival to test the water and see if it will take off."

He said he believed there was a demand for a different style of blues from that on offer at Upton Jazz Festival.

"They are moving towards more modern things, but locally there is a following for a different style of blues than you get in traditional jazz," he said.

He hoped the festival would embrace all types of blues, from acoustic to fully electric rock bands.

Jazz Festival organiser "Sir" Alan Buckley wished the blues fans luck with their new venture.

"Early blues is an important part of the jazz festival, but we don't go for the heavy rock blues. It's a different type of music and you don't want to upset the traditional audience," he said.

"You wouldn't expect to go to a rock festival and find a jazz band there. One or two festivals in Europe are bringing in rock bands and ruining the festivals because you get a clash of amplification that drowns out the other music."