Detroit Jazz Festival

Last updated
Detroit Jazz Festival
Detroit Jazz Festival Logo (black).webp
2025 Detroit Jazz Festival.jpg
Amphitheater Stage during the 2025 festival
Genre Jazz
DatesWeekend of Labor Day
FrequencyAnnually
Venue Hart Plaza and Campus Martius Park
Location(s) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Coordinates 42°19′53″N83°02′45″W / 42.33139°N 83.04583°W / 42.33139; -83.04583
Years active1980–present
FounderRobert McCabe
Most recentAugust 29–September 1, 2025
Next eventSeptember 4–7, 2026
Attendance300,000 (2024)
Organised byDetroit Jazz Festival Foundation
Website detroitjazzfest.com
A crowd cheers The Blind Boys of Alabama performing on the Campus Martius stage at the Detroit International Jazz Festival in September 2005. DetJazz05 09 05 05 (2882375935).jpg
A crowd cheers The Blind Boys of Alabama performing on the Campus Martius stage at the Detroit International Jazz Festival in September 2005.

The Detroit Jazz Festival is an annual music festival held in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is held in downtown Detroit during the weekend of Labor Day. [1] With more than 60 acts performing each year, the Detroit Jazz Festival is the largest free jazz festival in the world. [2] The festival is organized by the nonprofit Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation, and entirely supported by charitable donations, with no admission charge to enter the festival or concerts. [3]

Contents

Overview

The four-day festival is held annually over the weekend of Labor Day, beginning on the preceding Friday evening. [4] Most performances take place across three stages in downtown Detroit: two in Hart Plaza near the riverfront, and one in Cadillac Square adjacent to Campus Martius Park in the center of downtown. [5] [6] The streets surrounding Campus Martius are closed to traffic during the festival weekend, [7] with vendors set up along Woodward Avenue and in Hart Plaza. [6] Since 2024, a small number of additional performances are held at the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center at Wayne State University, roughly 2.5 miles to the north in Midtown Detroit. [6] [8] [9]

History

The festival began in 1980 as the Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival, founded by Robert McCabe, then-president of the nonprofit Detroit Renaissance. [10] [11] It was initially produced in partnership with the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, with many notable jazz artists performing at both events. [12] The association with Montreux ended after the 1991 festival, with the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts assuming production responsibilities beginning in 1992, though the event retained the Montreux-Detroit name through 1999. [12] [13]

From 2000 to 2004, the event was known as the Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival under a sponsorship agreement with the Ford Motor Company; [14] after Ford withdrew from the event in 2005, it became known simply as the Detroit International Jazz Festival. The festival adopted its current name in 2012. [15]

Music Hall produced the festival until 2005, after which production was taken over by the Detroit International Jazz Festival Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) organization. The organization was founded in 2006 by Gretchen Valade, [11] granddaughter of the founder of Carhartt and then-chair of Mack Avenue Records. [16] Valade donated $10 million to the foundation, [17] and is widely credited with saving the festival from financial failure. [12] [18] She chaired the foundation's board of directors until her death in December 2022. [9] [19] Following her death, the foundation partnered with Wayne State University to establish the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center in her honor; it opened in August 2024, and has hosted a portion of the festival each year since. [9]

Notable artists

Performers have included Dave Brubeck, Gary Burton, Regina Carter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Joe Lovano, The Manhattan Transfer, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Mulgrew Miller, Paquito d'Rivera, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, Take 6, and Tower of Power. [20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Beddingfield, Duante (2025-08-29). "2025 Detroit Jazz Fest kicks off in style with cool weather and hot performances" . Detroit Free Press . Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  2. ↑ Pevos, Edward (2024-08-28). "Michigan has the largest free jazz festival in the world over Labor Day weekend". MLive . Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  3. ↑ Walker, Micah (2025-08-29). "Heading to the Detroit Jazz Festival? What to know". BridgeDetroit. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  4. ↑ Rauch, Paul (2023-09-11). "Detroit Jazz Festival 2023: A Tribute to a Great Jazz City". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  5. ↑ Beddingfield, Duante (2025-08-29). "How to attend or live stream 2025 Detroit Jazz Fest for free: Details" . Detroit Free Press . Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  6. 1 2 3 "Detroit Jazz Festival 2025 Program Schedule" (PDF). Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation.
  7. ↑ "Many Downtown Detroit streets will close for Jazz Fest; here's the list". WXYZ-TV . E. W. Scripps Company. 2024-08-27. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  8. ↑ Beddingfield, Duante (2024-04-10). "Detroit Jazz Festival unveils 2024 artist lineup, led by artist-in-residence Brian Blade". Detroit Free Press . Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  9. 1 2 3 Beddingfield, Duante (2024-08-28). "Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center to open this week, just in time for Detroit Jazz Festival". Detroit Free Press . Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  10. ↑ Rauch, Paul (2021-09-13). "The 2021 Detroit Jazz Festival: A Commitment to the Music, Day 1". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  11. 1 2 "Detroit Jazz Festival". Detroit Historical Society. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  12. 1 2 3 Dwyer, Alex (2017-08-17). "How The Detroit Jazz Festival Became The World's Largest Free Premier Jazz Festival" . Forbes . Archived from the original on 2021-10-16.
  13. ↑ Latimer, Charles (2019-08-18). "Caretakers Help Detroit Jazz Festival Hit 40-Year Mark". Downbeat. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  14. ↑ Mattison, Ben (2005-02-27). "Ford Ends Support of Detroit Jazz Festival". Playbill . Archived from the original on 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  15. ↑ "Detroit Jazz Festival History". Archived from the original on 2007-07-07. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  16. ↑ Hildebrand, Christine (2024-12-16). "A Family Affair". Detroit Design. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  17. ↑ Poses, Jon (2010-09-05). "Detroit's jazz festival turns into labor of love for violinist". Columbia Daily Tribune. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  18. ↑ Cain, Carol (2023-01-13). "Detroit businesswoman Gretchen Carhartt Valade leaves behind a symphony of accomplishments". Detroit Free Press . Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  19. ↑ "Department of Music: Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center". Wayne State University .
  20. ↑ "Detroit Jazz Festival announces '12 lineup" . Retrieved 2012-04-04.
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