Rawa Blues Festival

Rawa Blues Festiwal is the largest and one of the oldest held in Poland Blues Festival. From the beginning it was held at the Multipurpose Hall " Spodek " held in Katowice. The name of the festival comes from Katowice river Rawa. The founder and organizer of the festival is Ireneusz Dudek, a well-known also by the names Irek Dudek and Shakin ' Dudi Polish blues musician.

The festival included performances by Dżem, Irek Dudek, Tadeusz Nalepa, Luther Allison, Junior Wells, Koko Taylor, Carey Bell, John Cephas, Phil Wiggins, CJ Chenier, Rory Block, Little Charlie & the Nightcats, Guitar Shorty, Vernon Reid, Debbie Davies, Canned Heat on.

History

The first festival took place from April to May 1981. During the " I Ogólnopolskie Spotkania z Bluesem Rawa Blues" (1st Polish blues encounters ), as the festival was then called, were organized gigs in clubs Akant, Kwadraty, Medyk, pulse and Wahadło. This occurred among other Elżbieta Mielczarek, Paweł Ostafil, Dżem and Easy Rider. In the following years, also in a state of war, were there to show all important Polish blues musician. Until 1991, the festival was a gathering place for mainly domestic bands. As of 1992, it was international in character, as the founders strove important international musicians to have occur. Concerts in the Hall " Spodek " found in 1992 in front of 10,000 listeners instead.