It's just under a month away until The Waiheke Winter Blues Festival warms up winter on the 28 & 29 August with a great line up of New Zealand Blues artists in paradise!

More artists are being added to the already top line up and the full programme is now available to view on the website: http://www.whatsonwaiheke.co.nz/

Tickets are ON SALE from Fullers ferries, SeaLink, i-Site, Oneroa and through the festival website. Don't forget that getting your tickets in advance of the weekend means you'll save at least $10. Under 18's go free to festival venues if accompanied by an adult.

Emerging Blues Talent Competition

Waiheke Radio in association with the Waiheke Winter Blues Festival is launching a competition this year to find the best emerging Blues talent around. Entrants will get the opportunity to perform one blues song of their choice at The Woolshed on Sunday 29 August with the audience deciding the winners. Winners will receive a music video produced by Let Me Out Ltd. So if you know of any great young or new blues performers who you think would relish the opportunity, please feel free to let them know about it and take a look at the competition page here: http://www.whatsonwaiheke.co.nz/blues_competition.html

We'll continue to add more details and information to the web site and be sure to listen in on the B-Squared Blues show on Tuesday nights for more information and ticket give-aways.

Tune in to Waiheke Radio this Saturday 31st July and next Saturday 7th August 8pm for The Jabsco Sessions. This month is part 1 in my Hip-Hop Electro specials were I’ll be taking you back in time to the golden age of 80’s Hip-Hop and Electronica music, featuring tracks from the legendary UK Street Sounds record label.

Katy Soljak will be performing the first of our Waiheke Winter Blues Festival live-to-airs this Tuesday the 27th of July on the B-Squared Blues show at 8pm. Ben and Ben will be having a series of performers from the festival appearing every Tuesday as well as ticket give-aways and news of the event as it unfolds. For more information on the festival visit: http://www.whatsonwaiheke.co.nz/

On Sunday a bomb blast in Kampala, Uganda killed 74, including many foreign nationals. Although US church workers who had gone to Uganda to complete building a school were among those wounded in the blasts Waiheke teens in the country as part of The Village Project were not in Kampala at the time. Two of  the teens travelling to Uganda, Kimmy Webster and Hannah Judd spoke to Waiheke Radio shortly before they left the country. That interview can be heard here. The two did not anticipate any danger during their trip.