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Our Story
The Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival was founded in 1985 by Jim Simpson and Big Bear Music, with a simple belief: entertaining music should be accessible for all.
In the following years, the festival grew to becomeone of the region's most iconic annual events, with a fiercely loyal following and a host of top-calibre artists.
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Over the decades, the festival has presented more than 6,500 performances to a total of 2.8 million people, spanning jazz, blues, swing, big band, bebop, rhythm & blues and so much more. From intimate club sets to open-air stages, the festival has always found a way to bring music to every corner of the region.
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Now in its 42nd edition, the festival remains as vibrant, open and adventurous as ever. Free at heart, rooted in the community, and always alive with the music that started it all back in 1985.
Through the years, the festival has welcomed some of the most iconic names in jazz and blues history, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, BB King, the Count Basie Orchestra, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and The Blues Brothers Band, all sharing the same stages as emerging local talent and community artists. That mix of world-class performance and grassroots spirit has always been at the heart of what makes this festival unique.
But the Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival has never just been about the music. It has been about the region itself, transforming parks, libraries, bars, galleries and street corners into stages, and turning everyday spaces into moments people remember for a lifetime.
