The Wotton Blues Festival gets underway next weekend, with three days of top-quality music held in various locations across Wotton-under-Edge.

The recently established music festival has become extremely popular with fans of blues music in recent years, and Festival Organiser Dave Draisey is in a confident mood this year’s event will set a new attendance record.

He said: “This year’s line-up is extremely exciting, we’ll be welcoming a whole host of talented performers to the festival. Just like our first two festivals, every single performance is free of charge. The first two festivals have been hugely successful and I’m sure the 2018 event will be much the same.”

Now in its third year, the Wotton Blues Festival will be welcoming one of the up-and-coming stars of the blues scene who is headlining this year’s event. On Saturday 22nd September Bristol-based Elles Bailey will be performing in the Town Hall.

Dave continued: “To welcome so many talented bands and artists is very exciting. We’re particularly pleased to be hosting Elles Bailey who is one of the rising stars of the blues scene here in the UK.

“People wanting to see Elles in action are encouraged to book tickets on our website, there’s no cost but we have to impose a limit on tickets because we’re confident the event will reach full capacity.

“Elles played in Wotton a couple of years ago so I had her contact details. Since then she’s gone on to achieve great things. A few days before she plays at the Wotton Blues Festival she’s due to perform in Nashville, that shows the popularity she’s enjoying. It’s a major coup for us to have a musician of her class appear at the festival.

“We’ve been so lucky with the weather for the last couple of festivals, we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that it stays dry again this year as a lot of our performances are outdoors. Whatever the weather does though audiences are in for a real treat.”

The festival has built up a huge following, which is a remarkable achievement considering the inaugural event was only two years ago.

Dave added: “Last year we had people visit us from all over the world. We had people turn up from Europe and America, it shows the popularity of blues music. We even had a blues band from California get in touch and ask to play at the festival!

“When we started off we wanted to create a quality music festival that would allow people to enjoy great blues music free of charge. Everyone involved in the festival is a volunteer and we’re reliant on the generosity of a few key sponsors, without their assistance we wouldn’t be able to hold the festival, it’s as simple as that. Our only revenue stream comes from the programmes and t shirts we sell.

“I’ve loved blues music for as long as I can remember. I played in a band when I was at school way back in 1962, that was the start of my blues music career. Nowadays I play in a band called Route 61. We’ve played at the last two Wotton Blues Festivals but this year we’re having a year off to make room for some new bands and artists.”

The festival isn’t just about the performers though, visitors to the event are given opportunities to try their hand at producing music.

Dave explained: “Our music workshops have been a real success. We’ll be hosting several workshops this year with visitors able to learn to play instruments like the harmonica and guitar. If people want to pop along to a workshop they should take a look at our website as advanced booking is essential as there are a limited number of places available.”