Crowds throng streets at Great British R&B Festival in Colne

Over 30 artists performed across two stages, the Pendle Hippodrome and The Exchange Project Stage, including performances from headliners Aynsley Lister, Xander & The Peace Pirates and Elles Bailey, the latter of which closed the festival on Sunday evening.

Pendle Hippodrome was the focal point for this year’s event while Colne and Nelson Rugby Club hosted the festival’s official campsite with a free shuttle bus running between the site and the town centre.

Triple award winner at this year’s British Blues Awards headliner, Elles Bailey has been playing festivals across Europe and released her third album, 'Shining in the Half Life', establishing herself at the forefront of the British blues and roots scene.

Elles Bailey posted on social media: “Thank you great British RnB Festival Colne! So much fun jumping on stage with my gal Lauren Housley, getting my buddy @musicdommartin in to jam, debuting a brand new tune with @dmarrinermusic at Mojo and watching so many incredible bands! Plus - my band were on FIRE! What a night.

“Thank you all who were there and thanks Christine Moore, Fenton Parsons and Tristan Bryant for the snaps.”

The live music continued with The Official Fringe, which saw over 130 performances across 14 venues and showcased an exceptional quality of blues musicians from around the UK, organised by The Colne Blues Society.

Venues includes The Dressers, the Duke of Lancaster, the Market Street Tavern and Mojo’s of Colne.

A spokesperson for Mojo’s of Colne said on Monday: "Well yesterday was a bit surreal.

"Huge thanks to headliner Elles Bailey for popping over for a sing song with her bandmate and pal Demi Marriner. You two sound amazing together.

"And lovely to meet the second coming of Rory Gallagher and all-round nice guy Dom Martin. What a treat!"

Those attending enjoyed live music across the full weekend, with teen sensation Toby Lee, multi-award winner Dom Martin, as well as blues legends Alice Armstrong and Emma Wilson also amongst the performers.

They were also joined in the main venues by some incredible local talent including Fandjango, J-Bear and The Giants and The Imperials.

Nathan Cutler, Colne Town Council’s Events Officer, said: “Wow what an incredible event. We didn’t think we could top last year but we, alongside our fantastic artistic directors Colne Blues Society and all our brilliant partners, have put on a festival which will go down long in the memory.

“People have turned out in their thousands once again and it has been amazing to see so many people in the town, enjoying live music and exploring all the brilliant local shops, restaurants, bars and eateries we are so proud to have here in Colne.”

Simon Shackleton, Festival Coordinator at Colne Blues Society, added: “This is our first year programming the Great British R&B Festival and we have had the most awesome experience.

“It has been so rewarding seeing the venues full, people enjoying themselves and being able to welcome the most talented blues artists in the UK right here to Colne.

“The town has been packed all weekend and our Official Fringe venues have welcomed incredible numbers of people through their doors with visitors eager to check out some exceptional live music, and we are so proud to have been a part of it.”

Sponsored by Barnfield Construction Ltd, the event also featured a line-up of family fun entertainment including a wide variety of street food vendors, face painting and stalls, as well as performances from Elton Wrong and the Unicyclist Walkabout Entertainer, Blues Brothers Stilt Walkers, Musical Ruth on the magical mobile piano, the eye catching Mirror Men and the extremely popular LED Robot.