Three days of world-class blues, intimate indoor venues and late-night jam sessions in northern Moravia
Blues Alive, one of Central Europe’s leading festivals dedicated to blues and roots music, will celebrate its 30th edition in Šumperk, Czech Republic, from November 12–14, 2026. For three days and nights, the festival will bring leading artists from the United States and across Europe to two main indoor stages and a number of smaller venues throughout the town.
The festival traditionally sells out, but following an expansion of its venue capacity, a limited number of additional tickets are still available.
This year’s line-up brings together established stars and some of the most exciting new names in contemporary blues. Highlights include D. K. Harrell, one of the leading young voices and guitarists of American blues and a recent two-time Blues Music Award winner; seven-time Blues Music Award winner and Grammy-nominated singer Janiva Magness; acclaimed singer and bassist Danielle Nicole, winner of two Blues Music Awards in 2026; and the exceptional partnership of American guitarists JD Simo & Luther Dickinson, combining Mississippi hill-country blues, southern rock and deep American roots music.
The programme also features New Orleans singer-songwriter Layla Musselwhite; Canyon Lights, the 1970s-inspired American guitar trio formed by former members of GA-20; two-time Blues Music Award-winning saxophonist and singer Jimmy Carpenter; and Adama Janlo, winner of the European Blues Challenge 2026.
“Turning 30 is not simply an opportunity to look back,” says festival director Štěpán Suchochleb. “We want to demonstrate that blues remains vital, contemporary music. Blues Alive is ultimately about the experience – discovering artists, meeting musicians and spending three intense days surrounded by music. Around a third of our tickets are traditionally sold almost a year in advance to returning visitors, and their loyalty is probably the best recommendation the festival could have.”
More than a series of concerts
One of Blues Alive’s defining qualities is its scale. Rather than watching major artists from a distant festival field, audiences experience them in relatively intimate indoor venues, often only a few metres from the stage.
The proximity continues once the official concerts finish. Late-night jam sessions run until 3 a.m. every night, bringing together musicians from different bands and generations in combinations that may never appear anywhere else. Jimmy Carpenter and his band will form the core of this year’s jam sessions, with other festival artists joining throughout the weekend.
Blues Alive also extends far beyond its two main stages. A monastery church, library, cinema and other locations around Šumperk host concerts, masterclasses, films, exhibitions and talks exploring the music and the culture surrounding it.
International visitors can also attend selected English-language programmes, including a presentation by Greg Johnson, Head of the Blues Archive at the University of Mississippi, and a Talking Blues session featuring Luther Dickinson.
A music weekend in the heart of Central Europe
Šumperk lies in northern Moravia at the foothills of the Jeseníky Mountains and offers a very different festival experience from the large outdoor events found across Europe.
The compact town centre means that festival venues, restaurants, cafés and the railway station are all close together. Its 19th-century architecture earned Šumperk the historical nickname “Little Vienna”, while the surrounding mountains make it easy to combine the festival with a longer autumn weekend in the region.
Despite its location away from the major capitals, Šumperk is easily accessible. Driving times are approximately 1.5 hours from Brno, 2.5 hours from Katowice, under three hours from Bratislava, and around three hours from both Prague and Vienna. Rail connections run via Zábřeh na Moravě, and Šumperk railway station is only a few minutes’ walk from the main festival venue.
Accommodation ranges from simple festival options to hotels and apartments in Šumperk and the surrounding area. Visitors who prefer to leave the logistics to the organisers can also choose All-Inclusive packages combining festival passes with hotel accommodation, transfers, meals and additional services.
Thirty years – without becoming a museum
Blues Alive was founded in Šumperk in 1996 and has since developed from a regional event into an internationally recognised meeting point for American and European blues. Its international reputation was underlined in 2019 when it received the Keeping the Blues Alive Award from The Blues Foundation in Memphis.
Yet the anniversary edition is designed less as a retrospective than as a picture of where blues is today – from artists deeply rooted in the Mississippi tradition to musicians moving freely between blues, soul, rock, Americana and contemporary roots music.
After thirty years, Blues Alive remains firmly connected both to the tradition of the music and to the artists who are shaping its future.
Blues Alive 2026
November 12–14, 2026
Šumperk, Czech Republic
A limited number of festival passes are still available.
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