In February, dozens of Delft’s cafes and restaurants will be filled with the sound of soulful music as the annual De Koninck Blues Festival returns to town.
This 17th edition of the festival will showcase 55 live performances in 30 participating locations around the city. “With numbers like that the Blues Festival Delft is the biggest indoor Blues Festival of the Netherlands,” said Daan Dekker, this year’s festival project leader. And, incredibly, all live performances are free of charge.
According to Dekker, not only is it the biggest blues event, but it showcases the talent of the best blues bands in the country. Big names in the Dutch blues scene will play including the Veldman Brothers, Sugar Boy & the Sinners, Fat Harry, Livin’ Blues Experience, and Little Boogie Boy and the Dynamite Blues Band. In addition, the Dutch jump & jive band ’44 Shakedown will debut their newest album during the festival. Even TU Delft’s own Doc. Curran and the Revelators will be part of the program.
In addition to the live performances there will be various special activities on offer. As a festival warm-up, Filmhuis Lumen will be screening “The Godmother of Rock n ‘Roll: Sister Rosetta Tharpe” on Sunday, February 15, 2015 at 15:00. Admission to the film is €9. On Saturday there will be a harmonica workshop where participants can learn the basics about playing the small instrument. Registration for the workshop costs €15, and participants will receive a shiny new harmonica to take home. On Sunday afternoon there will be a blues quiz where participants are tested on their knowledge of blues music and artists. Entrance is €5 per pair.
When asked how this year would be different from past events, Dekker noted that the festival is basically the same every year. “With high quality programming, we don’t need to change much,” he said.
Over the past years, Dekker said the festival has had approximately 25,000 attendees and they expect the same this year. But even with such large numbers of people, the small venues mean performances will have an intimate feel.
For more information on the program or registering for special events visit http://www.delftblues.nl/
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