Jacksonville Jazz Festival returns for Memorial Day weekend

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville’s best known four-day music festival is back, bringing music to the air in downtown Jacksonville. Action News Jax’s Dawn Lopez will emcee the festival on Saturday and Sunday.

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It’s the Jacksonville Jazz Festival and its returning this Memorial Day Weekend with performances at Metropolitan Park and for the first time at Daily’s Place.

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Alex Alston, the city’s Chief of Sports & Entertainment said jazz fest has a history of being held at different venues.

“I believe for the first two or three years it was out at Mayport,” said Alston. “Then it moved down to Metropolitan Park, over the past few years it’s had a lot of iterations in downtown Jacksonville on different streets and different stages.”

And every year the city’s sports and entertainment team starts planning about 6 months in advance.

“There are a lot of partners and a lot of vendors that participate,” said Alston.

READ: Free St. Johns County shuttles running for Memorial Day to the beaches

Alston said at peak times, jazz fest typically draws in between 12,000-and-13,000 people per day.

“But that’s not inclusive of the visitors that come in and out and leave throughout the weekend,” said Alston.

And if it is your first jazz festival, make sure you bring a chair and arrive early so you can avoid the traffic.

The festival will begin on Thursday, May 23, with the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition at the Florida Theatre, followed by three days of free live music at Met Park and Daily’s Place.

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