Jacksonville Jazz Festival History

It began in 1980 as the Mayport and All That Jazz Festival, a one-day celebration of music and seafood sponsored by the City of Jacksonville in the fishing village of Mayport.

The festival's official history, published by the City of Jacksonville Office of Sports and Entertainment, credits Mayor Jake Godbold with founding it. He wanted to reintroduce the world to the Bold New City of the South and to invigorate the struggling fishing community of Mayport. Producers expected a few hundred people. Nearly 25,000 spectators turned out to see Dizzy Gillespie headline, according to the City's history.

The University of North Florida library, which holds a Jacksonville Jazz Festival collection, describes the first festival the same way: a one-day celebration featuring music and seafood, sponsored by the City of Jacksonville and named after the fishing village of Mayport near Jacksonville Beach. The UNF description lists legends who have played the festival over the years, including Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Patti Austin and Sonny Rollins.

The two sources disagree on one detail. The City's history puts Dizzy Gillespie at the 1980 festival in Mayport, while the UNF description dates his appearance to 1981. Neither source explains the difference, so both are reported here.

The City's history says the first year's crowd, and an even larger expected turnout, led organizers to move the October 23, 1981 festival to the newly opened Metropolitan Park.

At the new site, the history says, local churches and organizations raised money by selling food and drinks, and low costs kept the festival free to the public. The UNF collection adds that at Metropolitan Park in downtown Jacksonville the festival was co-sponsored by WJCT, the local public broadcasting affiliate.

The City of Jacksonville's park page, at 4110 Gator Bowl Drive, describes Metropolitan Park as an 18.25 acre urban waterfront park on what used to be an urban landfill, supported by a concrete bulkhead. It says the land was purchased by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for $1,005,000 in May 1972, and that the ground breaking by Mayor Jake M. Godbold and Governor Bob Graham took place on December 8, 1982. The project cost $3.1 million and was underwritten by the City of Jacksonville, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Florida Department of Natural Resources and WJCT-TV. The park won the 1986 Governor's Design Award, and the City says its Florida National Pavilion was home to the Jacksonville Music Festival and the Jacksonville Jazz Festival.

The dates do not line up neatly. The festival history describes Metropolitan Park as newly opened in October 1981, and the UNF description says the move came after the festival's second year, while the City park page puts the park's first ground breaking in December 1982. None of the three sources explains the gap, so all three dates are reported as published.

The piano competition began on October 22, 1983 as the Great American Jazz Piano Competition and has been held at the Florida Theatre since 1984, except for years when the festival took a hiatus.

The City's history says the competition traditionally kicks off the festival and is now called the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition; the UNF collection likewise calls it the festival's opening event from 1983. Ticket prices for it have changed over time. In 2006, the history says, piano competition finals tickets cost $16 each, and after the 2009 move downtown the piano competition and the wine tasting were the two events that kept a charge.

By 2026 the competition was free. The festival's competition page says the 2026 Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition, presented by Yamaha, was held on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at the Florida Theatre, 128 E. Forsyth Street, with doors at 6 p.m. and the competition at 7 p.m., and that no ticket was required. Buyers of full festival VIP packages had reserved seating.

The format, according to the same page, is five finalists selected by a blind panel of judges competing for a cash prize and a chance to perform on the Ford on Bay Stage. Past judges named on the page include Marcus Roberts, Brian Culbertson, Christian Sands, Joey Calderazzo, Lynne Arriale and Dr. John. The City's April 2026 festival announcement said the winner would perform at the festival on the Ford on Bay Stage.

WJCT withdrew its sponsorship in 2000 citing significant losses, and there was no Jacksonville Jazz Festival in 2001 or 2002.

The station had been central for years. The UNF collection says that after the 1984 concert the festival was produced solely by WJCT and officially became the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. WJCT's own Jacksonville Music Experience history says the station was the festival's primary fundraiser from 1985 until it withdrew in 2000, and describes the festival of the 1980s and into the 1990s as ranking among the top festivals in America for critical acclaim, which is WJCT's characterization of an event it ran.

The City's history marks the milestones of those years. Miles Davis headlined on October 25, 1986, charging more than three times the rate of headliners just years before, and WJCT taped many performances for a one-hour television special distributed nationally by PBS and later seen internationally. On October 21, 1995, a $5 cover charge was added to cover shortfalls. On October 27, 2000, despite rising attendance and admission revenue, costs had outpaced sponsorship and WJCT withdrew its title sponsorship.

The City brought the festival back. On October 25, 2003, the history says, the City revived it at Metropolitan Park with no admission charge and 60,000 people came. Tony Bennett headlined and was paid $100,000 plus $10,000 in expenses, revenues fell short of costs, and the City took a loss of about half a million dollars. UNF says the City sponsored the festival again in 2003 and has continued since. Admission returned on October 21, 2006, when Kenny G and Herbie Hancock headlined: $10 a day at Metropolitan Park and $25 for reserved seats at the Ritz Theatre and Museum.

In May 2009 the City reimagined it as a street festival and moved it from Metropolitan Park into the downtown core, with free admission for everything except the piano competition and the wine tasting.

The move to Downtown Jacksonville also shifted the calendar from October to late May. The City's history traces the stages since then, summarized in the table below.

The Off Jazz concerts brought R&B to the Florida Theatre: Brian McKnight and Avant in 2013, Musiq Soulchild and Sebastian Mikael in 2014, and Fantasia in 2015, when tickets were $38.50. In 2016 the festival drew big crowds to Downtown Jacksonville with performers including Kem, Snarky Puppy and Dr. John, and the 2018 courthouse lawn stage featured Sheila E., Trombone Shorty, Dianne Reeves and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

The 2021 anniversary festival placed the Swingin' Stage at Riverfront Plaza and the Groovin' Stage at Ford on Bay, with activations connecting the two, and its Saturday night ended with fireworks over the St. Johns River between the Main Street and Acosta bridges. WJCT's 2021 history describes the Groovin' Stage as on the site of the Duval County Courthouse and the Swingin' Stage as at the former site of the Jacksonville Landing.

The 2026 festival took place over Memorial Day weekend, May 21 to 24, with free performances on the Ford on Bay Stage in Downtown Jacksonville.

The stage stood at Ford on Bay, 288 E. Bay Street. The City's April 10, 2026 announcement said the Ford on Bay Stage was presented by Publix Super Markets and that paid Premium Experiences, VIP and Preferred seating, were presented by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority. The artists it listed included Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton, Ghost-Note, Andra Day, esperanza spalding, Sheila E. and the E-Train, Nile Rodgers and CHIC, Kamasi Washington and Moonchild. Sponsors and partners named by the City included the Downtown Investment Authority, JEA and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.

A second stage returned the festival to the riverfront. The festival's Jazz in the Plaza page introduced a new stage at Riverfront Plaza for local artists; on Saturday, May 23, 2026, its gates opened at 3 p.m. and the lineup included the Douglas Anderson Jazz Combo at 4:15 p.m.

The festival is produced by the City of Jacksonville Office of Sports and Entertainment, 214 North Hogan Street, 4th floor, (904) 255-5422, according to the festival site. As of October 18, 2026, the festival's home page still showed the May 21 to 24, 2026 dates and did not yet list dates for 2027, so the next festival's dates should be taken only from the City or the festival site once announced.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the festival's history, home, piano competition and Jazz in the Plaza pages, the City of Jacksonville's 2026 festival announcement and Metropolitan Park page, the UNF Jacksonville Jazz Festival collection, and WJCT's 2021 festival history.