The festival dates for everyone’s diaries this year are Wednesday 10th July to Sunday 14th; the opening concert on the Wednesday evening at the Dereham Memorial Hall features the fabulous and amazing Toby Lee, brilliantly supported by Catfish.
Toby Lee is a truly exceptional young man and a blues phenomenon. At only 19, he’s been playing top flight blues in the UK since the age of eight, and winning blues awards at the highest level; in 2018 and again in 2023 he won “Young Blues Artist of the Year” at the UK Blues Awards in London.
The other act at the opening concert, Catfish are one of the UK's most exciting blues-rock powerhouses on the circuit today. They have quickly established themselves on the scene as one to watch, and have been making waves in the last few years with regular tours and festivals appearances in the UK, Europe and the USA.
Welcome to the 2024 Dereham Blues Festival website as we celebrate our 10th anniversary festival. Whether you are a serious performer, an enthusiastic busker or a fan of the blues and live music, we hope you’ll find everything you need here in preparation for joining us in Dereham at the end of the second week in July.
We are very proud of our festival (now widely recognised on the national blues circuit) and the many benefits it brings to the town of Dereham. If you’ve never been, it’s well worth a visit to sample a wide range of blues music – you’ll hear acoustic guitars, a heavier electric feel, wailing harmonicas, solo artists, jam sessions, original artists, bands playing old standards that make you want to get up and dance, and much more.
More than 50 bands will be playing in venues throughout the town. We are also hosting a variety of hands-on workshops and talks, as well as a family-friendly busking event on the Saturday. The vast majority of the performances are free-entry – great music for the price of a drink or two.
Applications to play at the 2024 festival are now closed, and we have started the selection process to choose the 50 or so bands to appear this year from the 124 applications received. Not an easy task, have sympathy for us!