“This year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival promises to be one of our best,” says Camille Russell Love, Director of the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. “We are presenting a diverse lineup of artists from around the world, and because we are blessed with a wealth of talent here in Atlanta, we’ve added a third stage in Piedmont Park for local artists. There will be no grilling at the festival this year so we have adjusted our dates in Piedmont Park to run from Friday through Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, May 23-25. The park will reopen for normal public use on Monday, May 26 for Memorial Day. Make plans now to join us for an unforgettable weekend of jazz!”
Here’s the complete lineup of performances in Piedmont Park over Memorial Day Weekend:
FRIDAY, MAY 23
MAIN STAGE
5pm YJBC 1st Place Winner: North Atlanta Center for the Arts Jazz Band
7pm Roberta Gambarini Quartet
9pm Roy Hargrove Quintet
SATURDAY, MAY 24
MAIN STAGE
1pm YJBC 2nd Place Winner: Tri-Cities High School Jazz Band
3pm Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra
5pm Ester Rada
7pm Russell Gunn’s Krunk Jazz Orkestra
9pm Christian Scott
INTERNATIONAL STAGE
1:30pm Edmar Castañeda Trio
3:30pm Somi
5:30pm Eldar Trio
LOCALS STAGE
12:30pm JC Young Middle School Jazz Ensemble
2:30pm Willie Ziavino and the C.O.T. Band
4:30PM Brian Hogans Quartet
SUNDAY, MAY 25
MAIN STAGE
1pm YJBC 3rd Place Winner: Milton High School Jazz Ensemble
3pm Airmen of Note
5pm Freddy Cole Quartet
7pm Bill Frisell’s Guitar in the Space Age Featuring Greg Leisz, Tony Scherr and Rudy Royston
9pm Ahmad Jamal
INTERNATIONAL STAGE
1:30pm Ali Amr
3:30pm Diego Figueiredo Trio
5:30pm Cyrille Aimée
LOCALS STAGE
12:30pm Rialto Jazz for Kids
2:30pm Darren English Quintet
4:30pm Kemba Cofield Quartet
· ADMISSION. The event is FREE and open to the public.
· DATES & HOURS. Festival hours in Piedmont Park are
Friday, May 23 from 4 -11 pm;
Saturday, May 24 from 11 am-11 pm and
Sunday, May 25 from 11 am-11 pm.
· THREE STAGES. This year there will be three stages in Piedmont Park: the Main Stage, the International Stage and the Local Stage.
· TWO KIDZONES. There will be two KidZone areas this year. The Publix Activity KidZone will offer games and interactive play for all ages, and the Art KidZone will feature jazz education concerts geared toward younger listeners, a Puppet Factory hosted by the Center for Puppetry Arts, face painters and much more!
· SHOPPING & FOOD VENDORS. A wide variety of food vendors will tempt your taste buds with BBQ, gyros, burgers, Caribbean foods and more! Browse among the booths for unique items including art, clothing and jewelry.
· PARK RULES. There will be NO GRILLING, NO PETS and NO STAKING OF TENTS allowed in Piedmont Park during the festival.
· LOCAL TRANSPORTATION. The easiest way to come to the festival is to take MARTA: http://www.itsMARTA.com. There will be free shuttles running from Midtown and Arts Center MARTA Stations to Piedmont Park every 15 minutes throughout the festival. Also, Atlanta Bicycle Coalition will have a free bike valet for people who wish to bike to the park. The bike valet will be located between the Main Stage and Park Tavern, near the Beltline connection to the park.