PEOPLE from all over the world came to Burnley to get the blues ... and loved every minute of it!

The Burnley National Blues Festival, which drew to a close in the early hours of Tuesday (April 9), was one of the most successful ever.

Thousands flooded into the town for the Easter weekend, and crammed into the Mechanics for five days and nights of music.

Three floors of live entertainment and a foyer packed with stalls kept the blues fans happy, and huge demand for food and drink meant that bar and kitchen staff were rushed off their feet.

Promoter Jacqui Livesey told the Citizen: "The most successful aspect of the blues festival is the sheer number of people who come to the Mechanics year after year.

"There were literally thousands upon thousands of people. Tickets sales were better than ever before for some of the acts.

"It's an event that puts Burnley on the musical map, not just in this country but across the Atlantic and in Europe. There were quite a lot of people from Germany and France, as well as people from all over this country. Hotels were booked up solidly for the weekend.

"It was a very friendly event. It's great to see the entire building packed at 10pm with people stamping and cheering, and people just milling around in the bar and foyer and the Gallery Downstairs.

"Thousands of pints were pulled and the catering people say they were extremely successful."

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