The Pender Harbour Jazz Festival was started in 1996 by a group of musicians and board members of the Pender Harbour Music Society. Their mandate was: to lengthen the tourist season to help local businesses; to feature all styles of jazz from varied countries and cultures; to attract a new audience to the music and to enlarge the vision of existing jazz fans; to showcase world-class musicians and emerging stars from across Canada, BC, and the world, as well as local Sunshine Coast groups; and to provide a free clinic with a world-class musician for music students from Sunshine Coast high schools.
Eighteen years later, the festival is still going strong and its audience continues to grow. People who believed they didn’t like jazz are exposed to many different styles each year, from Afro-Cuban to gypsy to swing, and are finding music they like very much, indeed. The festival has become known internationally as a great party to play in, and submissions come from great musicians around the globe each year. The venues are intimate, relaxed, and scattered around Pender Harbour from Madeira Park to Garden Bay. There are al fresco and indoor performances from early morning into the wee smalls. Most of the approximately 25 performances are free. There are three ticketed events at very low prices: the Saturday and Sunday Jazzapaloozas, four hours of jazz each afternoon, and the headliner Saturday evening, showcasing a jazz world icon at the School of Music.
Great jazz and a good time.
