Why should Liverpool have all the acoustic fun? As the beacon of light that is Liverpool Music Week fades away for another year, our friends in Wirral take up the metaphorical box of matches and set light to the blue touch paper attached to the box of fireworks known as the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain.
The festival runs from 4th to 28th November at a variety of venues across Wirral.
Now in its 20th year, the International Guitar Festival features guitarists from across the world and around the corner. These masters and mistresses of the guitar will be showcasing a wide range of musical genres with something to suit nearly everyone’s tastes.
All of the acoustic guitar events are in the Liverpool Acoustic Diary at liverpoolacoustic.co.uk/diary along with details of the locations and the ticketing arrangements.
As for all festivals of this nature circumstances may well have changed by the time we go to press (or by the time we press ‘publish’ on the blog page) so to keep up to date visit the festival’s website at www.bestguitarfest.com – says it all, doesn’t it?
Just so you’ve got more of a flavour of what to expect, here’s the welcome message from the festival director, Rob Smith.
This year heralds a new series of concerts featuring our new Festival Ambassadors. Twenty years and hundreds of guitarists later the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain is still striving to expose the rich seam of the guitar within the music of the world.
To celebrate our 20 th Birthday year a small number of Festival players have been invited to act as Honorary Ambassadors from all 5 continents to reflect the broad international aspect of the Festival. We have asked artists who have performed at, and supported the Festival throughout the years and through their advocacy, to continue to produce a world-class event, attract other players and raise our profile in the world of music.
I am delighted to announce that blues guitarist Woody Mann (USA), classical guitarist John Williams (Australia), jazz guitarist John Etheridge (UK/Europe), classical/flamenco guitarist Galina Vale (Ukraine/Eastern Europe), and Lucky Ranku (South Africa) are our worldwide Ambassadors for this Festival.
I am hoping that our Ambassadors will spread the word about our Festival whilst performing across the world. We know that the real ambassadors of the festival are our audiences, and we look forward to you joining us along with Martin Taylor, Eric Lugosch, James Burton, John Goldie, Joscho Stephan, Little Man Tate and Lucky Ranku.
From then outset it has been my view that the players were our greatest advocates, and it has always been my intention that playing our Festival should be as enjoyable for the performers as it is for the audiences.
Don’t forget
Rob Smith
Festival Director