What do Ben Harper and Bob Dylan, Deep Purple and Frank Zappa, David Bowie and Santana (and Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Jethro Tull...) have in common?

The answer is simple: all of these singers and bands have performed at least once at Pistoia Blues Festival.

Pistoia Blues Festival is the oldest and most important Italian festival devoted to blues music. Blues developed in the early 20th century in the Afro-American communities living in the deep south of America and has influenced jazz and rock & roll, as well as, even, hard rock and hip-hop.

Since its first edition in the summer of 1980, Pistoia Blues Festival has been held in the first half of July. The festival itself lasts two or three days, but then several special and off-program events follow in the same week.

So, if you are travelling to Tuscany in the first days of summer and you happen to stay near Pistoia, do not be surprised if you see the photos and read the names of the most famous blues singers in posters and ads along the streets. You are not on vacation in the States; you are in Tuscany. The fact is that for a few days in the year Pistoia becomes the temple of blues music.

As the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said: "Without music, life would be a mistake". And if you do not want to do a mistake, we advise you to attend Pistoia Blues Festival.