Urban Blues Fest to hold seventh edition in Bucharest in March
Blues festival URBAN BLUES FEST, the only event of its kind in Bucharest, will hold its seventh edition at The Pub Universităţii between March 27 and 29, with artists from Norway and the Netherlands. Organizers say the event combines both young and established artists who excel in blues and related genres.
The headliner of the first day of the festival is the Maastricht Jazz Collective quintet from the Netherlands. The group brings together talented teachers and students of the Maastricht Conservatory. The students come from Romania, Turkey, the US, Estonia, and Spain. The Dutch quintet will close the first evening of the festival.
Marius Vernescu, the special guest of the festival and the only Romanian jazzman awarded the Grand Prize of the “Solo Piano” competition at the Montreux International Jazz Festival, will also perform in trio format on March 27, 2026. A major name in Romanian jazz, he combines classical rigor with the spontaneity of jazz to delight audiences around the world, according to the organizers.
The headliner of Saturday, March 28, 2026, is the explosive Italian guitarist Marco Bartoccioni, performing in Romania for the first time. Also on Saturday, March 28, 2026, after two years, the Romanian-Serbian trio AXiS returns to UBF, with new pieces from their album.
On Sunday, March 29, 2026, the Norwegian guitarist, originally from Romania, Joe Rusi, will serve as the headliner. He will arrive for the first time at Urban Blues Festival, where he will launch the new album.
Also present will be the band Rockabil from Timişoara and the instrumental blues-rock trio Give’N’Take.
(Photo source: press release)