Southport BID feature by Andrew Brown Stand up For Southport
Coopers Bar in Southport town centre is inviting everyone to enjoy its first ever Blues Festival this summer!
The vibrant three-day event will take place from Friday, 11th July 2025 through to Sunday, 13th July 2025.
Admission is free, with people able to support a fundraising campaign for a brilliant local charity.
One lucky winner could take home a guitar with £389 from Coopers Music on Union Street in Southport by signing up for a free ticket on eventbrite.com and presenting your ticket at any one of the three event days.
Money raised through the festival will support the Rethink mental health charity based in Southport.
Coppers Bar was opened on Leicester Street in Southport six years ago and has grown a reputation as one of the town’s premier live music venues.
It’s a relaxing, cosy bar, eatery and live music venue supporting a range of sounds including jazz, rock and pop.
The Blues Festival will run from 6pm onwards on Friday, 11th July; from 1pm on Saturday, 12th July; and from 2pm on Sunday, 13th July.
Spud Cooper said: “I conceived the idea for the Blues Festival after noticing that many of our customers at Coopers Bar, including myself, are avid fans of blues music.
“I saw it as an excellent opportunity to showcase artists rarely seen in our town and to unite local talent.
“The festival features two main headline acts for the weekend. The first is Canadian-born guitarist and singer Gary Cain, who has been performing across Texas for several years and has several acclaimed original albums.
“Booking Gary through a friend was the primary spark for the Blues Fest. Once his participation was confirmed, I reached out to other bands, and the response from local blues acts was overwhelming — they all wanted to be involved.
“For the second headline artist, I chose Mike Brookfield, an old primary school friend and originally from Southport.
“Mike moved away many years ago and has built a strong reputation in Ireland as a blues guitarist, songwriter, and educator, with a wealth of original music. I contacted him on a whim, and he enthusiastically embraced the idea, promptly booking his flight to join us.
“Coopers Blues Fest is set over three days the 11th, 12th and 13th of July, culminating in a huge blues Jam night on the Sunday evening at our popular open mic night.
“I’ve combined parts of the marketing with my music shop, Coopers Music, and I’ve donated a full brand new guitar pack as a prize to help draw attention to the event. All that’s needed to enter is to sign up for a free ticket on eventbrite.com and present your ticket at one of the event days.
“We are also raising money to buy a PA system for a local mental health group in the town.
“We’ll be collecting donations over the next few weeks and will hopefully raise enough to get them a new much needed system.”
- Coopers bar is at 4-5 Leicester Street, Southport. Follow them on Facebook here: (20+) Facebook
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