Blues Festival coming back to mainland in 2014 – Organizer

After three years in hibernation, the Blues Festival is making a comeback on mainland St Vincent.{{more}}

On January 31, 2014, the Blues Festival will take place at the Cruise Ship Berth in Kingstown.

“We are going to come back in 2014 to have the Blues Festival here in St Vincent,” said event organizer Basil Charles, while addressing the audience at the Basil Charles Educational Foundation (BCEF) scholarship ceremony on Tuesday.

“We have spoken with the Minister of Tourism and various people, so we hope that we would get great support. We would try and do raffle tickets and everything we can to help raise money in that respect.”

With persons like Shemekia Copeland, whose voice is described as the eighth most wonderful voice in the new century, and English blues singer Ian Siegal in the artiste line-up, Blues Festival 2014 promises to be truly entertaining.

London’s Lady of the Blues Dana Gillespie, great boogie woogie piano player Dino Baptiste and Matt Gest are also expected to make appearances at the event.

The London Blues Band will be the official band at the festival.

The Blues Festival is held annually in Mustique and kicks off on January 22, 2014, before heading to the neighbouring island of Bequia and then to St Vincent.

In 2010, the festival took place at the Aquatic Club.

Charles took time on Tuesday, to thank the various sponsors of the Mustique Blues Festival. These sponsors included Felix Dennis, The Mustique Company, St Vincent Brewery Ltd, Doug Hamilton, St Vincent Insurance, Cobblestone Inn, Mariners Hotel, Young Island Resort, Gonsalves Liquors, Michel and Ghuislaine de Verbraye, Rose Ann and Michael Leiner and Friends of the Mustique Blues Festival.

All proceeds of the festival go to the BCEF, which provides educational assistance to students in St Vincent and the Grenadines through scholarships and bursaries. (BK)