Mustique Blues Festival 2024
The Mustique Blues Festival celebrated its 29th year in 2024 with a blues-filled bonanza as Basil’s Bar hosted the biggest festival ever. Every year the crowds keep increasing and this year’s supporters did not disappoint. Thanks to their generosity, we were able to raise more than ever before. In total, more than $100,000 EC Dollars was raised for the Basil Charles Educational Trust.
The Basil Charles Educational Foundation is dedicated to providing education and opportunities to children in and around St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Since its inception in 1996, over 600 students have been helped with full-time scholarships, bursaries, and other educational pursuits. All proceeds from the Mustique Blues Festival go to the foundation.
When it comes to our incredible musicians, Joe Louis Walker was back in action – we have missed you Joe - and he was straight back into the rhythm of things! Alongside Mustique Blues veterans Ian Siegal, Murali Coryell and Matt Gest, we welcomed some fresh sounds to this year’s line-up with Dan Rabinovitz, Peter O’Brien, Linwood Taylor Jr, Giles Robson, Robbin Kapsalis, Dennis Jones and last, but by no means least, a true highlight of this year’s line-up was our first ever full-time Vincentian artist, Joshua Lewis on the Bass!
The band delighted the crowds with some festival classics, alongside new material. They even co-created a “profound, far-reaching, sensitive, elegant, exquisite piece of music”, the Basil’s Bar Boogie, an instrumental created at the festival which is dedicated to the bar. Have a listen below:
Both events outside of Basil’s were a big hit with a relaxing afternoon at our “Playground Blues”, setting the right vibes after a rainy morning. The following Wednesday, Macaroni Blues was a smash hit – the whole island coming together under the stars for a night of drinks and dancing barefoot on the beach.
The festival closed out in style with a firework display drawing to a close the busiest closing night in Blues history.
With the 30th anniversary of the Blues coming next year, this festival shows no signs of slowing down. The 2025 dates have been announced – mark your diaries for the 22nd January until the 5th of February – what a celebration that promises to be.
