The famous jazz festival that almost never was ended up attracting audiences of nearly 90,000 fans across more than a hundred venues this year, many of them on Westside.
The 40th Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival, which ran from 19 to 28 July, was threatened with cancellation when its regular main sponsor, Birmingham City Council, withdrew its funding due to financial problems.
But other organisations, including Westside BID, rallied round with the help of a funding appeal to ensure that the festival delivered 10 days of live jazz, blues, swing, big band, Dixieland, bebop, rhythm & blues, New Orleans, jug and boogie, as well as workshops in jitterbug and ukulele.
And a survey among audience members, carried out throughout the festival, revealed that a resounding 86% of fans are looking forward to being their again next year for what will be the 41st instalment, taking place between 18 and 27 July 2025.
Festival organiser Jim Simpson said: “Birmingham City Council, currently grappling with financial difficulties, announced drastic cuts to its budget for arts and culture at the end of 2023 and was unable to offer any support whatsoever to the Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival.
“Their decision to withdraw all funding put the festival in a precarious position, so a decision was made to start a GoFundMe campaign to subsidise this loss of funding.”
The campaign has so far raised around £3,500, with more donations still being made by festival attendees.
But the festival was able to go ahead as a result of core funding from Westside BID, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, and the Musicians Union, together with private donors, totalling £41,000.
At the same time, partner hotel, The Hampton By Hilton on Broad Street, provided hotel rooms for visiting musicians.
Jim added: “Ten memorable days, with 239 performances, 230 of them free admission, in 120 venues playing to a total of 87,955 people!
“It is therefore a big thank you to those fine musicians, to all of our supporters and the venues, to Westside BID, Sandwell council, The Musicians Union, The Hampton By Hilton and Fair Deal Music, and the host of folk who gave support-in-kind.
“But also to our terrific and supportive audience who come back to Birmingham year on year and never, ever, let us down. See you all next year.”
The festival attracted a total of 484 musicians in 74 bands, with venues ranging from hotels, restaurants, clubs and bars to libraries, museums, art galleries and a furniture store.
There was even a performance on a canal boat when The Swing Cats from Barcelona hitched a ride to get them from their gig at The Mailbox to their next one, at The Cosy Club on Brindleyplace.
The survey of 1,342 written responses also revealed that 39% of people attended for the first time, with 81% of performances rated very good and a further 15% good.
Main picture: The Swing Cats from Spain arrive at Brindleyplace in style. © Merlin Daleman
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