The Lakeside Blues Festival - Number One Blues Festival in Europe

This year the Lakeside Blues Festival will take place between June 24th and 28th in Järvenpää. Finland's largest blues festival will be arranged for the 32nd time in the end of June. Five days will feature dozens of artists, with tailor-made program for grown-ups and kids alike. Järvenpää, a town of 37 000 inhabitants, is located about 40km north of Helsinki, the capital of Finland.

The first Lakeside Blues Festival was held in 1978. Since then the event has grown to be one of the leading blues festivals in Europe. During the years numerous leading blues artists have appeared at the main concert and clubs along with a great number of other rhythm music artists from all around the world.

The readers of Blues-Finland.com voted Lakeside (Puistoblues) the best blues festival in Finland in 2008. Of all music happenings in Finland, Lakeside ranks as the fourth largest -- last year's five-day event gathered no less than 120.000 visitors.

On June 24th the small town of Järvenpää will awake to the opening of the "Blues Street", where one can find intensive live music from midday to evening during those five days. Also there will be a lot of recreational activities for children. Lakeside Blues Festival is especially renowned for its image of being a festival for the whole family. For example, kids under the age of thirteen can attend the main event with their parents free of charge!

As the evening falls upon the town, the music will continue at four clubs where tens of different bands will do their best to entertain rhythm and blues fans.
The main concert of the Lakeside Blues Festival will be held on June 27th beginning at noon. The venue is a charming park by the lake Tuusulanjärvi. This enviroment of great natural beauty creates a unique atmosphere for listening good blues. As always, the whole festival will be arranged entirely by voluntary crew.