Building on the success of last year, manchester jazz festival (mjf2024) begins with a spectacular FREE opening weekender at the vibrant neighbourhood: First Street (mjf @ First Street) from 17 – 19 May.
There will be three event stages: Main Stage, Ask Garden Stage and HOME stage, each celebrating the breadth and individuality of our home-grown scene and beyond: bands emerging through our artist development programmes, alongside national and international talent, plus family-friendly activities and food & drink.
There are three new venue partners for this year: The Deaf Institute (The Lodge), Stoller Hall and The Carlton Club in Whalley Range, alongside mjf regulars and returning venues: St Ann’s Church, Matt & Phreds, RNCM, Forsyth Music Shop and the festival closes with an extended weekend-long party at Band on the Wall. mjf is also hosting a new mjf originals commission Séance – a moving musical performance, transforming The Deaf Institute into a space for connection. Built around voicemail messages from lost loved ones, artists Verity Watts and Rosie Parsons, will invite audiences to come together over shared experiences of loss and grief.
The mjf piano trail is also making a comeback! manchester jazz festival and Forsyth Music Shop have joined forces once again for the mjf2024 piano trail: to find Manchester’s hidden talents across a trail of 12 street pianos at locations across Manchester city centre. From 18 April – 26 May, the mjf piano trail encourages everyone to get creative and share their talent and for those who want to take part, there’s a chance to enter a competition to win a Yamaha P-45B piano and many more prizes. More information to be announced soon…
Ticket prices range from FREE to £30 but there’s plenty of free-to-access music and activities taking place at locations across the city centre, including the whole of the opening weekender: mjf @ First Street.
manchester jazz festival has also reinstated its international programme and have been working hard to overcome the challenges of the last four years posed by the pandemic and Brexit.
mjf have struck up new partnerships with near neighbours in Ireland and France to bring audiences co-commissions and UK debuts, including two French bands touring by train to reduce their carbon footprint, thanks to Europe Jazz Network’s Green Pilot Tours. mjf hopes to inspire its audiences to match their commitment and attend via green travel.
As well as artists from Norway, Finland, Germany and Denmark, mjf also began an exciting new artistic collaboration with Centre National de la Musique (CNM) in Paris and Glasshouse ICM (formerly Sage Gateshead) for French and northern UK artists to collaborate on new music for the festival.
Steve Mead, mjf CEO and Artistic Director, said: “We can’t wait to welcome you back to our 10-day festival – the 29th mjf – to share some hugely inspiring artists with a host of venues and partners across the city.
mjf is acknowledged for championing northern talent, under-the-radar artists and debuts of new music, as well as bringing some big names to Manchester, and of course for celebrating the diversity of our music and its artists. This year, I’m especially pleased to be able to welcome international artists back to mjf after 5 years, with a host of UK debuts and special collaborations, notably with France and Ireland, but also featuring Norway, Finland, and Germany.
For many, mjf is the sound of surprise – it’s the sound we love and we hope you will too. We can’t wait for you to join us.”
Tickets go on general sale at 10am on Friday 16 February at manchesterjazz.com
