A Guide To Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2024

The pretty city of Cheltenham hosts an array of world-leading festivals every year, spanning Science, Music, Literature and Jazz. The latter kicks off the season every spring, drawing tens of thousands of music lovers to Gloucestershire for one of the nation’s best-loved jazz festivals. Here’s everything you need to know about what’s in store at Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2024.

Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2024

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What Is Cheltenham Jazz Festival?

‘Cheltenham Jazz Festival has an international reputation for bringing the very best artists together and producing unique shows,’ says Artistic Curator Gregory Porter. The annual Cheltenham Jazz Festival celebrates jazz in all of its forms, balancing world-renowned artists with up-and-coming new talents, and hoping to introduce the genre to new audiences.

Dating back to 1996, the first festival was first programmed by Jim Smith and has featured the likes of Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, Van Morrison, Jamie Cullum, Jools Holland, Laura Mvula, Paloma Faith, Dianne Reeves and many, many more incredible artists over the years. The festival celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022, drawing a star-studded bill to the city to perform to sell-out audiences, with an estimated 25,000 visitors enjoying free music across the city, and almost 35,000 tickets issued.

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What’s On In 2024?

World-Class Performances

Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2024 will feature performances from the likes of Gregory Porter, Dionne Warwick, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, UB40, Nikki Yeoh, CHERISE, Betty LaVette, Fatoumata Diawara, food-critic Jay Rayner in his pianist guise, and plenty more. You can see the full programme at cheltenhamfestivals.com

Family Programme

It’s not only about the grown ups, a full programme of family events will also take place, including:

• Jazz Babies: an interactive session with early-years music specialists
• African storytelling from singer-songwriter Namvula
• A performance of infectious music from The Hot Club of Jupiter
• A captivating show introducing kids to rap, lyrics and rhythm with Alim Kamara

Free Events

If you missed out on tickets, your Cheltenham Jazz journey isn’t over: an eclectic array of free performances will take place across the festival on the free stages, including Belle Noir, GS Collectives, Dom Franks, Tomorrow’s Warriors Youth Ensemble, Ni Maxine, Dub Catalyst and plenty more.

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When?

1–6 May 2024

Where?

Cheltenham Jazz Festival takes place in venues across Cheltenham. There is also a free-to-visit Festival Village in Montpellier Gardens featuring live music, as well as street stages in pubs, bars and clubs across town throughout the festival.

How?

All tickets can be purchased online at cheltenhamfestivals.com, or over the phone on 01242 850270. You can also purchase tickets during the festival at the box office (the opening times will be listed here).

Cheltenham is easily accessible via road and rail. The main festival site can be found at Montpellier Gardens (GL50 1UW).