Blues at the 'Bridge
We're back for our third year!
Our amazing 2025 festival will feature:
- 7 hours of classes,
- 3 socials with live music,
- A history talk on the amazing Bessie Smith,
- Dinner on the Cam,
- A chance to connect with other blues scenes in the UK with a guided scene building discussion.
Our Teachers
We are thrilled to welcome Konrad and Agneiszka to Cambridge to teach us this year.
Having taught across Europe including Bluesilla, The Spoonful, ESBF, Fallin in Blues and many more, they are also fantastic scene builders and teachers in their home country of Poland.
In their approach they try to cover all the diverse areas of blues: from blues as a dialogue with both leader and follower interchanging in leading, through clear and harmonic energy flow, musicality, interpretation, relaxation, working with breath, isolations, the history and types of blues, up to fancy moves. They try to encourage participants of their classes to explore new techniques and moves as if nobody was watching them and to play with the music and make fun of oneself while dancing, just as its founding fathers and inventors did.
The Music
On Friday Night, we will be welcoming Cambridge based The Stormy Mondays. A regular act on the Cambridge stage and most recently played at the blues silent disco at Cambridge Lindy Exchange 2024. This band pull from all genres of blues to create a fantastic mix of vibes and tracks to get a party started, perfect to launch a weekend of dancing. On
Saturday night, we will be welcoming Ma Bessie and Her Pig Foot Band. Building on her passion for the Empress of the Blues, Julia Ttus started to perform as Ma Bessie in mid 2015 to share the music of Bessie Smith and her contemporaries with a new generation of listeners. Mixing Julia's rich, warm vocal sound with a dynamic group of musicians that look as well as sound the part. Ma Bessie combines classic blues and jazz tunes from the inter-war years with a selection of original songs and hand-picked covers from the last 50 years of popular music.
More bands to be announced soon!
What else is happening?
As with our previous years we'll be welcoming our attendees to join us for Sunday lunch next to the river Cambs to enjoy food and drink in the summer sun. Julia Titus will not only be providing us with the music of Bessie Smith on Saturday evening, but during the day will also be giving a talk about Bessie Smith - her life, her influences, her legacy.
Finally, with the help of Melissa Davy (Hoodoo blues) we'll also be running a facilitated discussion during the weekend to provide a forum for blues dancers either currently involved in running scenes or are interested in running a scene to discuss challenges, opportunities and helpful tips to build strong grassroots communities locally and provide an opportunity for blues organisers across the UK to connect and share resources and ideas.
It's a jam packed weekend you really don't want to miss!
Tickets will go on sale 28th February at 7pm GMT.
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