Dundee is to host a blues bonanza-style music festival this summer after all, organised by the city’s pubs and clubs.
Several city centre venues have agreed to work together to bring dozens of bands of all musical styles to maintain the “fantastic” buzz created by the Dundee Blues Bonanza over the past 20 years, following the cancellation for health reasons by the committee of this year’s main event.
Shock and dismay had followed the announcement earlier this month that the festival would not go ahead this year, although the organisers pledged to bring it back again in 2015.
A statement on the Blues Bonanza website said: “Very regretfully, due to several issues, including health, funding and World Cup etc, the Dundee Blues Bonanza committee have decided that the festival will not take place this year.
“We intend to take a year out and come back refreshed and raring to go in 2015. Hopefully with more corporate support.
“Thanks all musicians and fans for your invaluable support and friendship over the years.”
Since then, music fans, bar owners and councillors, along with former Lord Provost John Letford, have all expressed their disappointment over the cancellation on various forums.
However, a groundswell of opinion has quickly grown throughout the city that something should be done to keep the festival going.
Now, a group of like-minded publicans and venue operators, along with The Courier, have come together to create a blues bonanza-style event, not strictly blues oriented, but bringing bands of all styles to the city on the weekend of June 28 and 29.
Under the banner Almost Blue, which is in its third year but on a much increased scale, the pubs and clubs will provide entertainment on a similar scale to the bonanza, all free, with representatives of the venues working together to publicise the event throughout Courier Country.
A spokesman for Almost Blue said: “We’re delighted to announce that there will be a bonanza-style festival this year after all.
“Everybody was devasted when the Blues Bonanza committee announced that they weren’t able to do it this year but we all understand the reasons why.
“They have done a fantastic job over the years to build it up to what it was, bringing about 12,000 people into the city centre and we all felt that something should be done to keep that momentum going.
“Hopefully it will only be a break for this year and the blues bonanza will be back again next year.
“We all recognise the hard work that Bob, Ivor and the rest of the volunteers have put in for 20 years which has made Dundee a must-go destination on the blues map of Europe.
“Apart from the feelgood factor of the whole weekend of music, the financial benefits to the local ecomony are too much to lose, because pubs, restaurants, cafes, shops, taxi drivers and hotels all get a welcome boost in trade.
“We’ll be putting up a Facebook page from Saturday so people can see what’s planned.”