One of the great things about attending a music festival is that you never know what to expect.

Sure you’ll have acts you want to see and expect to enjoy, but the real magic comes from discovering those acts you’ve never heard of before that turn up and blow you away.

Well, the 38th Bay of Islands Jazz and Blues Festival from Friday to Sunday had all of that and more.

The festival has only missed two years, organiser Shirley May said – once for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and during the Covid lockdown – and 40 acts performed this year, at seven venues across the Bay.

May said the festival was just as popular as ever. She thinks the various venues, the quality of the acts, and the Bay’s great ambience keep the musicians, and the punters returning year after year.

“Here you don’t have to stay in one venue, you can move around as you want. So if you’re not enjoying one act as much as you thought you can easily nip out to another venue and see a different act,” she said.

And judging by the crowds attending shows at The Duke of Marlborough Hotel and Nauti Penguin, in Russell, and in Paihia at Scenic Hotel, Paihia Sports Bar, the Paihia Club, Kingsgate Autolodge and Twin Pines Manor there was plenty on offer to get them into the mood.

One thing that is always on display at the festival is the outstanding quality of the musicians – many of them world-class – and this year the crowds were left in awe at some of the music produced, whether that’s new takes on classics, or some heady originals.

An act I was wanting to see was the Australian one-woman band Minnie Marks. I’d read a bit about Minnie and her force-op-nature energy, but nothing really prepared me for just how good she was. Playing some superb lead guitar, while playing the bass notes at the same time and the drums – all without loops – was amazing.

Marks kept the crowd in the palm of her hand with some expert playing, nice banter and some back stories that gave her mainly original set a life of its own.

She told a tale of an old guy at a concert she played chastising her because he felt she was ‘’too young to play the blues.’’ I think it was just a bit of envy, as what he really meant was that she’s too young to play the blues so well. But the blues has no age restrictions and Marks was awesome.

I’d recommend anybody to check Marks out online.

Another thing with a festival is that you don’t always get to see every act you want to,

as it can be hard to navigate seven venues – and if one act is so good you don’t want to leave to make it to the act you were wanting to see.

And so it was again, but the acts that did impress me were Chihiro Yamazaki+Route 14, who were back for their second year in a row, and made another big impression.

Shimian also delivered a stylish and impressive set, with guitarist Regan Bell doing Garry Moore licks almost as well as Garry Moore, with the band super tight and performing a good cross-section of songs.

Others to get my feet moving were Blue on Black, The Dirty Tones, The Wydestripes, and the Tauraroa Area School Jazz Band getting people into the swing with their eclectic mix of songs, while you always know what to expect from Lex Pistols – smooth jazz, with plenty of fun and great musicianship.

Roll on edition 39 next year.