Blues nad Bobrem – “There Is No Future Without History”
2019 is a special year for the Blues nad Bobrem Festival, as after more than 10 years of absence it is returning to the city of Bolesławiec.
– It was here, in Bolesławiec on the Bóbr, that everything began; it is here in Bolesławiec that the Festival should develop – say the organizers.
The Festival’s history dates back to the early 1990s, when local blues enthusiasts, driven by their inner need for informal, undisturbed music-making among the best, came up with the idea of organizing something shared and local that would bring joy and freedom. The first editions hosted musicians such as Rysiek Riedel, Tadeusz Nalepa, Mira Kubasińska and Krystyna Prońko, who, with their youthful enthusiasm and extraordinary charisma, attracted crowds of people fascinated by this genre of music.
– Blues nad Bobrem symbolized liberation and showed the joy that can be drawn from playing music together and attending concerts. It is this energy, atmosphere and music that we want to return to today – say the event organizers.
After many years, the Board of the Blues nad Bobrem Association and the Mayor of Bolesławiec made another attempt at dialogue, aimed at returning the Festival to its place of origin and jointly building its brand, drawing on the energy it radiated during its heyday. For the 28th edition, the Association’s mission is to promote blues music among young listeners. With this goal in mind, the Association has decided, for the first time in the Festival’s history, to organize an event that is free and open to everyone.
The Festival format. What awaits us in July?
The outdoor concerts will be preceded by five days of music workshops led by the country’s finest artists. This year, guitar giants are returning to Bolesławiec: Marek Raduli (Bajm, Maryla Rodowicz, Budka Suflera), Jacek Królik (Chłopcy z Placu Broni, Edyta Górniak, Urszula, Grzegorz Turnau, Brathanki) and Jacek Krzaklewski (Perfect, Banda i Wanda). Vocal classes will be jointly led by Maciej Balcar, vocalist of Dżem, and Ola Sozańska-Kut, a woman from Bolesławiec known to students throughout Poland. The legendary music workshops, with a history spanning more than 25 years, are the heart of the festival and have always drawn blues enthusiasts from all over Poland to Bolesławiec. This year, the workshops will include as many as nine classes: two guitar classes, drums, vocals, bass, keyboards and Hammond, harmonica, and the original Magdalena Piskorczyk Masterclass. The lecturers will also include Zbigniew Lewandowski, Cezary Konrad, Kajetan Galas, Bartosz Łęczycki, Roman Badeński, Marcin Pendowski, and Tomasz Grabowy. All these outstanding musicians will enrich Bolesławiec with their passion for music and joint jam sessions at the festival club, to which everyone is warmly invited!
- Festival Club: Jazzva / open daily from July 14 to 19. Start at 7:00 p.m.; admission free
Polish-Czech music band showcase
As is traditional on the festival Friday evening, after a week of workshops and jamming, we invite you to a free outdoor concert by the Bóbr, featuring the “Polish-Czech Music Band Showcase” as part of Blues nad Bobrem, organized by BOK – MCC.
– The audience will have the opportunity to hear young, ambitious bands whose passion and talent have impressed us – comment the organizers. – The level of this year’s showcase is very high – they add.
Together with the audience, we will select two winners of the showcase, who will receive attractive cash prizes and modern musical equipment funded by our long-standing partners. We guarantee a solid dose of blues for the entire afternoon. While the jury deliberates on the winner, a true musical bomb, “Trzynasta w samo południe,” will explode by the Bóbr – a band known to a wider audience from appearances on the programs X Factor and Must Be the Music.
- Music Band Showcase: ul. Rajska, July 19, 2019, starts at 3:00 p.m.; admission free
Final concert for Mira and Rysiek
The festival will conclude on Saturday, July 20, with a free final concert. This year’s stars will be Sebastian Riedel with the band Cree and Natalia Sikora in a duo with Dariusz Kozakiewicz in the “Tribute to Mira” project. The choice of these artists is a nod to the festival’s history and two of its brightest stars: Ryszard Riedel and Mira Kubasińska.
– From the beginning, we wanted our return to Bolesławiec to be not merely a return to the city, but to a specific place: the boulevard by the Bóbr. We also knew that history had to come full circle in musical terms, which is why choosing the stars of this year’s final concert was not difficult – the organizers comment.
2019 is also the year in which we mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Rysiek Riedel, a legend of Polish blues and of our Festival. We are very happy that, after a quarter of a century, we managed to invite Sebastian Riedel to Bolesławiec and that he will perform in this very place, by the Bóbr, where Rysiek captivated our hearts more than a quarter of a century ago. Natalia Sikora needs no introduction. She is a truly unique figure, with a fantastic voice and charisma equal to that of her beloved Janis Joplin. Accompanied by outstanding musicians, including Dariusz Kozakiewicz, Natalia will invoke the spirit of Mira Kurasińska by the Bóbr. We believe that, through this choice of repertoire, we will reach both older listeners who remember the event’s first editions and younger audiences who have not yet had the opportunity to attend any edition of Blues nad Bobrem. Everyone is welcome, not only blues enthusiasts.
– Outdoor concerts are above all a great opportunity to spend a summer evening outdoors, in excellent company and with the sounds of outstanding music. At the festival site, people will be able to eat, quench their thirst and simply relax. Children will find interesting activities, including an artistic car-painting event organized jointly with Toyota-Boshoku and many other attractions – the organizers add.
- The Final Concert of the 28th Blues nad Bobrem Festival will take place on July 20 at the MOSiR stadium, ul. Rajska 1, starting at 5:00 p.m.; admission free
– Working on the Festival is teamwork – the organizers conclude. – For many months, we have had the pleasure of working with wonderful partners, thanks to whom the Blues nad Bobrem Festival can return to its roots in style! Dear partners, thank you for believing in us; as a result, we will enrich Bolesławiec with a generous dose of culture accessible to everyone! Meanwhile, we are already discussing future editions of the Festival. Rawa Blues, Suwałki, look west—Bolesławiec is returning to the stage.
Details at: www.festiwalbluesnadbobrem.pl
