Know Before You Go: 37th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival

Patch Staff Report

The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs celebrates the 37th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival, Memorial Day weekend, May 23-25, in Piedmont Park.

The event is free and open to the public. There are two important changes to this year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival. The festival will occur on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (not Monday) and there will be no grilling allowed in Piedmont Park during the festival.

See www.atlantafestivals.com for more information.

“This year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival promises to be one of our best,” Camille Russell Love, Director of the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, said in a news release. “We are presenting a diverse lineup of artists from around the world, and because we are blessed with a wealth of talent here in Atlanta, we’ve added a third stage in Piedmont Park for local artists.

Here’s the lineup of free performances in Piedmont Park over Memorial Day Weekend:

FRIDAY, MAY 23

MAIN STAGE

5pm   YJBC 1st Place Winner: North Atlanta Center for the Arts Jazz Band

7pm   Roberta Gambarini Quartet

9pm   Roy Hargrove Quintet

 

SATURDAY, MAY 24

LOCAL STAGE

12:30pm JC Young Middle School Jazz Ensemble

2:30pm   Willie Ziavino and the C.O.T. Band

4:30PM   Brian Hogans Quartet

 

INTERNATIONAL STAGE

1:30pm   Edmar Castañeda Trio

3:30pm   Somi

5:30pm   Eldar Trio

 

MAIN STAGE

1pm   YJBC 2nd Place Winner: Tri-Cities High School Jazz Band

3pm   Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra

5pm   Ester Rada

7pm   Russell Gunn’s Krunk Jazz Orkestra

9pm   Christian Scott

 

SUNDAY, MAY 25

LOCAL STAGE

12:30pm Rialto Jazz for Kids

2:30pm   Darren English Quintet

4:30pm   Kemba Cofield Quartet

 

INTERNATIONAL STAGE

1:30pm   Ali Amr

3:30pm   Diego Figueiredo Trio

5:30pm   Cyrille Aimée

 

MAIN STAGE

1pm   YJBC 3rd Place Winner: Milton High School Jazz Ensemble

3pm   Airmen of Note

5pm   Freddy Cole Quartet

7pm   Bill Frisell’s Guitar in the Space Age Featuring Greg Leisz, Tony Scherr and Rudy Royston

9pm   Ahmad Jamal

More info on this year's festival:

• ADMISSION. The event is FREE and open to the public.
• DATES & HOURS. Festival hours in Piedmont Park are Friday, May 23 from 4 -11 pm; Saturday, May 24 from 11 am-11 pm and Sunday, May 25 from 11 am-11 pm.
• THREE STAGES.  This year there will be three stages in Piedmont Park: the Main Stage, the International Stage and the Local Stage.
• TWO KIDZONES. There will be two KidZone areas this year. The Publix Activity KidZone will offer games and interactive play for all ages. The Art KidZone will feature the WeBop Family Jazz Party, education concerts geared toward younger listeners. Swing, dance, and bop with your family to the tunes of Charlie “Bird” Parker. There will also be a Puppet Factory hosted by the Center for Puppetry Arts, face painters and much more!
• SHOPPING & FOOD VENDORS. A wide variety of food vendors will tempt your taste buds with BBQ, gyros, burgers, Caribbean foods and more!  Browse among the booths for unique items including art, clothing and jewelry.
• PARK RULES. There will be NO GRILLING, NO PETS and NO STAKING OF TENTS allowed in Piedmont Park during the festival.
• LOCAL TRANSPORTATION. The easiest way to come to the festival is to take MARTA: www.itsMARTA.com. There will be free shuttles running from Midtown and Arts Center MARTA Stations to Piedmont Park every 15 minutes throughout the festival. Also, Atlanta Bicycle Coalition will have a free bike valet for people who wish to bike to the park. The bike valet will be located between the Main Stage and Park Tavern, near the Beltline connection to the park.