Chicago Jazz Festival brings free music to Chicago Cultural Center & Millennium Park

Chicago is getting ready for one of its biggest music events of the year. The Chicago Jazz Festival will happen from Thursday, August 28, to Sunday, August 31, according to the City of Chicago, giving music lovers plenty of time to hear different artists and styles of jazz. This free festival takes place at two main locations in the city: Millennium Park and the Chicago Cultural Center. Produced by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events with programming by the Jazz Institute of Chicago, visitors can enjoy all kinds of jazz music without paying any entrance fee.

The festival brings together local Chicago musicians with famous artists from across America and other countries. According to the website, the diverse talent selection will educate concertgoers about jazz music, which is very important to Chicago's culture. The City of Chicago’s website details that outside alcohol is not allowed in the festival areas, but will be available for purchase inside the venue. The festival also provides American Sign Language interpretation, making the event accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. 

Music Festival Wizard describes this event as a Labor Day weekend tradition that has been going on for many years. The festival focuses on promoting all types of jazz music through high-quality performances. The event is open to people of all ages, which means families can enjoy the music together. 

Unlike some other music festivals, Music Festival Wizard explains how this event does not offer camping options for visitors. People who want to stay overnight need to find hotels or other places to sleep in the city. 

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Choose Chicago provides more details about this important cultural event in the city, which it claims is Chicago’s oldest free music festival that’s held on the lakefront. The Chicago Jazz Festival has been running for more than 40 years, making it a long-standing tradition in the city. Choose Chicago emphasizes that the festival receives global attention, exposing Millennium Park to entertainers and visitors from different parts of the world. The event also features performances at other venues like the Harris Theatre Rooftop.

This year's lineup includes artists like Sarah Marie Young, Ava Logan Quintet, Gary Bartz & NTU Troop, and Ari Brown Quintet. Choose Chicago mentions that the festival has historical importance because it started as a tribute to Duke Ellington after his death in 1974. The first official festival in 1979 drew 125,000 people, according to Choose Chicago. The Windy City has always been known as a jazz center, especially during the Great Migration when African Americans brought jazz and blues traditions from the South, Choose Chicago explains. The city developed its own style called Chicago-style jazz, which combines different musical influences with heavy bass, guitar, longer solos, and fast tempos.

This highly anticipated music festival comes just a week after Chicago’s House Music Festival, another important cultural moment since the City of Chicago claims house music was born in the Windy City. To learn more about the Chicago Jazz Festival, visit the City of Chicago website.