08 Jun Noa & The Hell Drinkers (Spain), winners of the European Blues Challenge 2023

Photo by Aigars Lapsa

We are really pleased to announce that Noa & The Hell Drinkers have been the bright winners of the European Blues Challenge 2023 held in Chorzów (Poland).

For two days 21 bands representing twenty-one European countries have participated and competed to win a challenge that makes them be the European band of the year. All participant bands have shown a high-quality level and done excellent performances, so it has been a really difficult task for the six judges to decide the winners.

The European Blues Union also wanted to give an homage to the Ukrainian people, presenting the musician Alexander Dolgov, who performed out of the Challenge and received a special trophy.

Photo by Aigars Lapsa

These are the three top winners:

Third place: The Cinelli Brothers (UK)
Second place: Soft City (Norway)
First place: NOA & THE HELL DRINKERS (Spain)

The winners will be in contact with the following Awarding Festivals to manage their participation:

BB Blues Festival (Portugal)
Gothenburg Blues Festival (Sweden)
Santa Maria Blues Festival (Azores Islands, Portugal)
Swing Wespelaar (Belgium)
Blues in the Garden (Romania)
Blues in Hell (Norway)
Lucerne Blues Festival (Switzerland)
Blues Alive Festival (Czech Rep)

This is the third time Spain has won the European Blues Challenge. The first one was in 2014 in Riga with A Contra Blues, the second one in 2015 in Brussels with Travellin’ Brothers and now in Chorzów with Noa & The Hell Drinkers.

Congratulations to all participants and especially to Noa & The Hell Drinkers!!