Colne Blues Society's 35th Rhythm & Blues festival hailed a success with star-studded line-up

The Colne Rhythm & Blues Festival has enjoyed a spectacular 2026, earning their third UK Blues Award for the Best Blues-Based Festival in the country, guaranteeing a spot in the Blues Hall of Fame and 2026 also marked a special milestone for the beloved Colne festival.

This year marked the 35th anniversary of the Rhythm & Blues Festival and the Colne Blues Society went all-out with this year’s festivities. A star-studded line-up featuring Mike Sanchez, Walter Trout, Ray Beadle, Kevin Brown, Dom Martin and The Cinelli Brothers were on hand, performing in the Pendle Hippodrome, The Muni Theatre and the Fort Vale Little Theatre, creating a lot of special moments for Simon Shackleton, who plays a big role in the running of the festival.

“I was talking to a couple in the hippodrome who had actually only recently heard about the festival. They were visiting for the first time and they'd just come for the day, but they're gonna come back for the whole thing next year because they were enjoying it so much, saying how well organised it is and what a great selection of music there was. I'm over the moon,” Shackleton concluded.

In April, the festival claimed the award for the best ‘Blues-Based Festival of the Year’ for the third time and saw them join esteemed names such as Cerys Matthews, Dom Martin and Elles Bailey in the UK Blues Hall of Fame. However, the festival will not have the opportunity to go back-to-back-to-back in 2027 as rules prohibit you from winning the award more than three times.

“You're not allowed to win the UK Blues Federation Awards because your third award gets you into the Hall of Fame. So once that happens, you're not winning again and that’s when you get into the realms of maybe sponsoring an award for somebody else or something like that. That'll be something that we're looking into doing next year,” Shackleton stated.

2026 marked the fifth anniversary of the Colne Blues Society’s involvement in the festival, which began in 2022. “We programmed the entirety of the fringe and also took on the Little Theatre and made that a kind of mini Colne Blues Society main stage. The following year the council looked at what we'd achieve with that, they were satisfied that we were capable of taking on the artistic direction of the whole festival and they gave it to us. We've had a great working relationship with them ever since I think it's gone from strength to strength,” Simon added.

They’ve not looked back since and they’re already actively planning for 2027. “I've a list of about 35 Main stage acts, which I would like to get on the bill for next year. I don't want to give anything away because I haven't actually contracted anybody yet um, but there will be the usual mixture of favourites and nice surprises. It'll be a blend of UK acts, maybe some European acts and a couple from America,” he said.