Blues Hotsak

Blues Hotsak 2026 runs from 6 to 22 November: two warm-up concerts in Elgeta and Eibar and a week of activities in Soraluze (Gipuzkoa), from Monday 16 to Sunday 22. The focus is on the last three nights at the Herriko Antzokia, the town's theatre: Dr. Feelgood on Friday 20, DeRobert & The Half-Truths on Saturday 21 and Barrence Whitfield & MFC Chicken on Sunday 22, all at 19:00 and priced at €15 plus fees per concert. This is the eighth edition.

A blues festival born in the Deba valley

Blues Hotsak was founded in 2019 and is organised by the cultural association Errabal Kultur Elkartea. The organisers themselves describe it as the result of a long-standing passion in the Debabarrena district, where series such as Debajazz and the Ibetondo jazz festival have been programmed since the 1980s, and of a record label specialising in Black music that has been based in Soraluze for around thirty years.

The format combines two scales. The international names play in the theatre, with paid admission; around them, the programme spreads across the gaztetxe, the squares and other corners of the town with small concerts, cinema, a book club, harmonica courses, an outing to the area's dolmens and activities for children. Previous editions give an idea of the type of line-up: in 2024 Santiago Auserón, JP Bimeni & The Black Belts and La Blues Company all played Soraluze, according to La Ganzúa.

Three nights at the Herriko Antzokia: from British pub rock to Nashville soul

The three nights move from 1970s British rhythm & blues to Nashville soul and, to close, the most full-throated rock and roll.

Friday 20: Dr. Feelgood. The Canvey Island (Essex) band founded in the early 1970s by Lee Brilleaux and Wilko Johnson was one of the groups that defined British pub rock, with the live album Stupidity and songs such as Roxette. None of the founders remain: Johnson left in 1977 and Brilleaux died in 1994. According to the official ticket seller, the line-up coming to Soraluze features Robert Kane on vocals and harmonica, with 27 years in the band; Gordon Russell, the band's guitarist in the 1980s, who has returned; and the rhythm section of Kevin Morris and Phil Mitchell, each with 44 years in Dr. Feelgood. They will be introduced by the bertsolaris Aissa Intxausti and Josune Aramendi. In September they headlined San Pedro Rock in San Pedro Alcántara, free and outdoors; here they play in a theatre.

Saturday 21: DeRobert & The Half-Truths. This is a Nashville soul and funk group led by Memphis-born singer DeRobert Adams and drummer and producer Nick DeVan. Their sound looks back to the 1960s and 1970s, with a raspy, gospel-rooted voice and a horn section, and they have shared the stage with Charles Bradley and St. Paul & The Broken Bones.

Sunday 22: Barrence Whitfield & MFC Chicken. Whitfield has spent more than forty years as one of the last active rhythm & blues shouters, first with The Savages and later as a solo artist. He is accompanied by MFC Chicken, the rock and roll band of saxophonist Spencer Evoy, who played as a guest on Glory, Whitfield's latest album with The Savages. The set revisits his early years, and Soraluze is the last date of the tour of Spain and Portugal, according to the organisers.

Before Soraluze: Elgeta on the 6th and Eibar on the 13th

On Friday 6, at 19:30, Barcelona saxophonist Dani Nel·lo, formerly of Los Rebeldes and now with Los Mambo Jambo, presents the album Bric-à-Brac at the Ozkarbi cultural society in Elgeta, with Gerard Nieto on organ, Jan Nieto on guitar and Ramon Angel Rey on drums: the sax and Hammond organ format of late-1950s rhythm & blues clubs.

On Friday 13, at 19:00, the Coliseo in Eibar hosts Lagunak Sessions: Catalunya Harmonica Summit, an album coordinated by US producer Greg Izor featuring names from the Catalan blues scene: Sweet Marta, Little Jordi, Johnny Big Stone, Oscar Rabadán, M. A. Lonesome, David Sánchez and Victor Puertas. The guest is Javier Laguna, from Arrasate, the driving force behind the project. The festival is billing it as the only chance to see them together live. Tickets for Eibar are sold through the Kutxabank online box office; the price of the two warm-up dates has not been published.

Programme in Soraluze, 16 to 22 November

• Monday 16, 19:00, Kalebarren 8: book club on Frankenstein agurgarria, by Petti and Ana Galarraga.
• Wednesday 18, 19:15, theatre: screening of The Commitments, by Alan Parker.
• Thursday 19, 19:00, theatre: Petti and Ana Galarraga, a recital with songs and images based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
• Friday 20: harmonica course for young people with Joan Pau Cumellas at 17:00, at the Gaztelekua, and Dr. Feelgood at 19:00 in the theatre.
• Saturday 21: harmonica course for adults at 10:00; music school combo at 11:30, in the theatre; Joan Pau Cumellas, Paul San Martin and Romain Gratalon at 13:00, at Etxaburueta; DeRobert & The Half-Truths at 19:00, in the theatre, and Sweet Marta & The Blues Shakers at 22:00, at the gaztetxe.
• Sunday 22: departure at 08:00 from the square to the dolmens of Karakate and Irukurutzeta, with prior registration; The Ubangi Stomp at 12:30, at Santana; La Perra Blanco in the Plaza Zaharra in the early afternoon, and Barrence Whitfield & MFC Chicken at 19:00, in the theatre.

Sunday is the fullest day for anyone who can only go for one day: two street concerts before the closing show in the theatre. The Ubangi Stomp, from Alicante, present Crits, their tenth-anniversary album, with piano- and sax-driven boogie-woogie, rhythm & blues and rock and roll. La Perra Blanco, the band led by Cádiz guitarist and singer Alba Blanco, has spent eight years touring Europe with its blend of rockabilly and blues. Their time is unclear: the general poster puts them at 14:00 and the Sunday page on the festival website at 13:30, so it is best to be in the square by the earlier time.

The poster also advertises a crèche, pintxo-pote, routes and Txikiblues, the children's programme, and the website adds a photo rally. Their times have not been published.

Tickets: €15 per theatre concert and no festival pass

The three Herriko Antzokia concerts are sold separately on Entradium, at €15 plus fees, €15.36 in total: Dr. Feelgood, DeRobert & The Half-Truths and Barrence Whitfield & MFC Chicken. They can also be bought at the Iratxo shop, at Plaza Barrixa, 1, in Soraluze. There is no pass, so all three nights come to €46.08. In 2024 a theatre ticket cost €12, according to La Ganzúa.

Saturday's harmonica course for adults, with Joan Pau Cumellas, costs €51.21 including fees, has limited places and participants must bring their own harmonica. The other events in Soraluze are not sold online, and the festival has not clarified whether they are free.

Where each event takes place and how to get around

The Herriko Antzokia is on Baltegieta street in Soraluze, according to the official ticket seller. The other venues are spread around the town, and the two warm-up dates take place elsewhere, in Elgeta and Eibar.

The organisers ask people to travel by public transport. To combine the trip with other events, see the festival listings for Gipuzkoa and our selection of November 2026 festivals.