Seventh edition of Urban Blues Fest to take place in Bucharest in March

The sevent edition of Urban Blues Fest, the only festival dedicated to blues in Bucharest, will take place at The Pub Universității between March 27 and 29, and will feature artists and bands new to Romania.

The first day of the festival brings the Maastricht Jazz Collective to Bucharest for the first time. The band brings together talented professors and students from the Maastricht Conservatory, such as David Luca – piano (Romania), Selim Aydin (Turkey) – trombone (assistant professor), Paul Saumets (Estonia) – saxophone, Alex Chavez (United States) – double bass, and Mario Calzada Pena (Spain) – drums (professor in the Jazz department, specialized in Critical Listening).

A second major premiere of the festival is the headliner for Saturday, March 28, Marco Bartoccioni. The explosive Italian guitarist arrives in Romania for the first time and will be accompanied by Aurora Di Rocco (drums, vocals & electronica) and Marco Polizzi (bass guitar and synthesizers).

Joe Rusi, the headliner for Sunday, March 29, 2026, is another premiere for Bucharest. Originally from Romania, he will launch a new album, Spaces, on the occasion of the Urban Blues Festival.

“The man who reached no.1 in the Norwegian blues charts and no.4 in the Global Blues Chart is extremely happy to (re)visit the country, after tours and festivals across Scandinavia, Nepal, America, and Canada,” the organizers said.

(Photo source: press release)