Sunday’s press conference brought together journalists from several local media outlets. Most questions concerned finances and the decision to move the event to Kliczków.
Adam Różycki, director of Zamek Kliczków, stressed that the castle has long organized cultural events and has experience in this area. “Our castle serves as a cultural center,” he said Adam Różycki. “Concerts by Wratislavia Cantans and many other musical and cultural events are held here.
Krystyna Juszkiewicz recalled that in Bolesławiec, the Association could not find supportive people willing to help. “Kliczków Castle wanted us. I thought it was a miracle when they invited us to join them,” said Krystyna Juszkiewicz. “We felt that ‘Blues nad Bobrem’ was disliked by the Bolesławiec authorities. We learned from President Piotr Roman that it was a niche event and that nobody listened to blues anymore. We are all the more pleased that we were appreciated and that the ministry decided the festival was worth supporting.
The creator of “Blues nad Bobrem” also strongly protested against linking the festival with politics. “The money for the workshops,” said Krystyna Juszkiewicz, “was not secured by Civic Platform, but by our friend Ewa Ołenicz-Bernacka. She wrote an excellent proposal. Remove all political context from the festival, because it has a negative impact on the people who are involved and work in organizing it.
Krystyna Juszkiewicz emphasized very clearly that nobody would use blues in the election campaign this year.
Ewa Ołenicz-Bernacka was asked what might have influenced the ministry’s decision to award the event as much as 300,000 złoty. She replied that the historical significance of the place and of the now twenty-year-old event may have been decisive. “Paradoxically, another advantage may have been moving the workshops out of the city and offering residents of Kliczków and the surrounding villages the opportunity to become involved in the event. In addition to the workshops and concerts, this year we have also prepared an offering for the local community: a ‘Blues Picnic’ and ‘Children Feel the Blues’ workshops. This year we are also inviting everyone who created ‘Blues nad Bobrem’ to an Alumni Reunion.
This year, the 20th “Blues nad Bobrem” Festival will traditionally feature:
- Wojtek Seweryn Workshops (guitar, drums, harmonica, vocals, keyboard instruments, saxophone, as well as sound engineering and photography)
- An outdoor Holy Mass with blues accompaniment (in Bolesławiec)
- Tadeusz Nalepa Blues Band Competition
- Concerts on two stages
With support from Stowarzyszenie Pro Culturae Bono, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and Zamek Kliczków, the Festival will be expanded to include a blues picnic and “Children Feel the Blues” workshops. To mark the anniversary, an Alumni Reunion and a photography exhibition will also be organized, featuring archival photographs from the event’s beginnings.
The organizers assure everyone that they have not forgotten the residents of Bolesławiec and that transport from the city to Kliczków will certainly be arranged. This year’s anniversary event is intended to be family-oriented and nostalgic, bringing together all the festival’s friends and blues fans.
Questions about the future of “Blues nad Bobrem” were also asked at the conference. Journalists asked how the festival could develop and what its strengths were. Bolków and Castel Party, a well-known though niche event, were cited as examples.
“We will ensure that, for example, the Blues Band Competition is prestigious,” said Krzysztof Gwizdała, who hosted the conference. “There is no other competition like it anywhere else; it could become the most important one in Poland. That could distinguish ‘Blues nad Bobrem’.
Krystyna Juszkiewicz added that the Association was focusing on new people and new ideas, because the festival would change along with them.
“The place where we plan to organize Blues in the future and the workshop program are both exceptional,” added Ewa Ołenicz-Bernacka. “There are only ten students per class, the standard is high, and the instructors are well known. It is also important that Zamek Kliczków sponsors this event, so the prices are low in relation to what is offered.
“Blues nad Bobrem is an excellent cultural event,” said Ołenicz-Bernacka. “To emphasize the value of the work involved in organizing such an event, we will pay for that work. Because work done for free is not respected.
“For twenty years, we were too modest, begging for money for the event,” said Krystyna Juszkiewicz. “We were treated unseriously because of it. We would like to change that.
Ewa Ołenicz-Bernacka and Krystyna Juszkiewicz asked the media to write extensively and truthfully about the festival.