This is a list of notable jazz festivals around the world.
| Name | Year | Location | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival | 1969–present | Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. | |||
| Beaulieu Jazz Festival | 1956–61 | Beaulieu, Hampshire, UK | Lord Montagu of Beaulieu holds an annual trad and modern jazz festival in the ground of Beaulieu estate, in the New Forest. | ||
| Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival | 1971–Present | Davenport, Iowa, U.S. | This 3 day jazz festival in Bix Beiderbecke's hometown of Davenport, IA began when a group of East Coast musicians came to Davenport to pay homage to Bix by playing over his grave. The jam session at a local hotel afterwards was so hugely popular that the idea to hold it annually was born. The festival drew tens of thousands and has been held every year since. 2021 marks its 50th anniversary, making it one of the longest running jazz fests in the U.S. | ||
| Cavalcade of Jazz | 1945–1958 | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Leon Hefflin Sr. produced the Cavalcade of Jazz at Wrigley Field, with jazz giants such as Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Sam Cooke, Dinah Washington, Frankie Laine, Perez Prado, Sarah Vaughn, Valdez Orchestra, Ray Charles and over a hundred more artists. | ||
| Clearwater Jazz Holiday | 1979–present | Clearwater, Florida, U.S. | |||
| DC Jazz Festival | 2005–present | Washington, D.C., U.S. | |||
| Festival International de Jazz | 1959–1966 | Comblain-la-Tour, Belgium | For eight years, between 1959 and 1966 at the initiative of a GI who survived the Rundstedt Offensive, the small Walloon village turned into one of the landmarks of the jazz world. Performing artists included John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Stéphane Grappelli, Cannonball Adderley, Chet Baker, and Woody Herman. | ||
| Five Points Jazz Festival (Denver) | 2003–present | Denver, Colorado, USA | Five Points Jazz Festival is a free, all-day event held annually in Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood. From its humble first year which featured one stage and only three bands, the festival has grown into an all-day event with almost 50 bands, 10 stages and performance spaces and 100,000 visitors. In 2020, DAV collaborated with Rocky Mountain PBS and KUVO to broadcast a virtual event that garnered two Colorado Broadcasters Association awards and a Heartland Emmy® nomination.[1] | ||
| Golden River City Jazz Festival | 1960–2016 | Kortrijk, Belgium | Focusing on Jazz. The Festival was an opportunity for The Golden River City Jazz Band to showcase their repertoire and to mingle with international musicians | ||
| 1984–present | Lake George, New York, U.S. | ||||
| Jazz Bilzen | 1965–1981 | Bilzen, Belgium | This was the first festival on the continent where jazz and pop music were brought together. Sometimes called the "mother of all (European) festivals," Bilzen started out featuring jazz, but eventually incorporated blues, folk, rock and soul, punk and new wave as well. | ||
| JazzFest Berlin | 1964–present | Berlin, Germany | The festival's artistic concept has been to document, support, and validate trends in jazz, and to mirror the diversity of creative musical activity. | ||
| Jefferson St. Jazz & Blues Festival | 2000–present | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | |||
| Kongsberg Jazzfestival | 1964–present | Kongsberg, Norway | The second jazz festival started in Norway. | ||
| Moldejazz | 1961–present | Molde, Norway | The first jazz festival in Norway. | ||
| Montreal International Jazz Festival | 1979–present | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (English: Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz festival. Every year it features roughly 3,000 artists from 30-odd countries, more than 650 concerts (including 450 free outdoor performances), and welcomes over 2 million visitors (12.5% of whom are tourists) as well as 300 accredited journalists. The festival takes place at 20 different stages, which include free outdoor stages and indoor concert halls. | ||
| National Jazz and Blues Festival | 1961–1980s | United Kingdom | Originally oriented around jazz and blues, this annual festival soon became a showcase for progressive rock as well, featuring groups such as the psychedelic rock group Cream. | ||
| Nattjazz | 1972–present | Bergen, Norway | This is a central jazz festival in Norway oriented around the variety of jazz. | ||
| New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival | 1970–present | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | This annual festival celebrates the indigenous music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana, so the music encompasses every style associated with the city and the state: contemporary and traditional jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, Cajun music, zydeco, Afro-Caribbean, folk music, Latin, rock, rap music, country music, and bluegrass. | ||
| Newport Jazz Festival | 1954–present | Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. | It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard. While initially focused on acoustic jazz, the festival's 1969 program was an experiment in fusing jazz, soul and rock music and audiences. | ||
| Ocean Blue Jazz Festival | mid-1990s–early 2000s | Hitachinaka, Ibaraki | |||
| Panama Jazz Festival | 2003–present | Panama | With almost 20 years, the Panama Jazz Festival has become a cultural tourism attraction with the visit of more than 500,000 people from different latitudes. Currently, the event is sustainable thanks to the work of Patricia Zárate de Pérez, Executive Director of the festival who leads a team of 70 coordinators, 500 volunteers, 300 national and international musicians, and about 200 collaborators from all sectors of Panama., adding more than 1,000 people who work hard to carry out the event. | ||
| Pori Jazz | 1966–present | Pori, Finland | The first festival was based on acoustic jazz, but electric jazz and other rhythm music, blues, soul, funk, hip-hop and Cuban and Brazilian music gradually took foot. | ||
| Prague International Jazz Festival | 1964–present | Prague, Czech Republic | |||
| Jersey City Jazz Festival | 2013–present | Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. | An annual festival in June based out of Hudson County. The festival (previously known as Riverview Jazz Festival) was started to create an awareness of the internationally known jazz musicians living in Jersey City. | ||
| Tobago Jazz Festival | 2004–present | Trinidad and Tobago | American magazine Forbes in 2008 voted the festival "third Biggest Event on Planet Earth" |
See main article: article. The following is an incomplete list of notable jazz festivals, including both current and defunct festivals of note.
Madagascar
See also: List of music festivals in Canada.
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