FANS of the blues flocked to East Lancashire at Easter weekend for the 16th Burnley National Blues Festival.

And this year's festival lived up to its promise to be one of the most memorable yet with some genuine legends heading to the main stage of Burnley Mechanics.

For two days and three nights the sound of the blues transformed Burnley into the unofficial 51st State with thousands of music lovers coming to town.

As well as the main stage at the Mechanics, night owls enjoyed the special late night club in the Gallery Downstairs where some great party bands had fans dancing until the small hours.

For the second year, Padiham Town Hall also hosted an official festival event when, on Sunday night, Otis Grand and his Big Blues Band were the headliners.

No Burnley Blues Festival would be complete without the fringe and this year there were seven venues offering a host of free entertainment.

The ever-popular Blues Cruise ran on Saturday and Sunday along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, as music lovers sat back on the Marton Emperor and enjoyed the combination of great music and a relaxing trip.

Among the headline acts was legend Little Freddie King, who brought some authentic heartfelt blues to the festival on Friday.

On Saturday it was the turn of Big Bill Morganfield -- son of Muddy Waters -- who performed two sets in one day, Janice Harrington, and R&B favourites Bluesline.

Then on Sunday Jody Williams brought the festival to a close in style.

Other top acts included Lou Pride, Earl Thomas and Roscoe Chenier.

Mechanics manager Kirk Worley said this year's event had been one of the best yet.

He added: "We were almost sold out for most of the acts each night which was good to see and there were people come to Burnley from all over the place, not just locals.

"A lot of the international artists were over in the UK for the first time and many of them said they had really enjoyed playing here and how welcoming the audiences were.

"All in all the festival has been a great success."