Niagara Jazz Festival expands for 5th year
A bigger and busier TD Niagara Jazz Festival is in store for July.
For its fifth year, the awardwinning festival will expand to two weekends, kicking off July 19 to 22 in St. Catharines and continuing in Niagara-on-the-Lake July 27 to 29.
It marks a growth spurt for the event founded by local jazz duo Juliet Dunn and Peter Shea, which saw more than 10,000 people attend last year.
Dunn says her vision for the festival has always been to make it comparable in size and quality to the Montreal Jazz Festival, which takes place over 10 days and attracts about two million people every year.
“I think we can do it,” she says. “I can see it. I can see ten days. We’re already splitting it into two weekends, and one day here (in St. Catharines) I can see shutting down the street and having all the cafes and restaurants participating.”
And for a festival so reliant on funding, standing pat isn’t an option.
“When you’re looking for funding, they want you to do new initiatives,” she says. “Because if you’re just asking for money to do the same thing every year, it’s not quite as interesting.”
Among the new St. Catharines events will be Jazz in the Gallery at Niagara Artists Centre July 19 and free World Music on the Beach July 22 at Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie, featuring local and international artists.
At a media conference Tuesday at First Ontario Performing Arts Centre, St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik said the city looks forward to a long relationship with the festival.
“You had a lot of people who wanted to see (the jazz festival) be a success,” he said.
“Five years in and we know you’ve got a long run ahead.”
The festival’s traditional endof-July weekend in Niagara-onthe-Lake includes multiple free concerts at Simcoe Park and — for the first time — a partnership with Music Niagara for a show with Phil Nimmons and David Braid at St. Mark’s Church.
On July 29, Cat’s Caboose in St. Catharines will host a festival wrap party and jam session.
Prior to the festival will be several leadup events, including the Sarah Vaughan tribute Vaughan in the Vines at Stratus Vineyards June 7 and the Dave Brubeck tribute Sax in the Vineyard at Henry of Pelham Winery July 5.
Dunn says generous funding — including $130,000 over two years from name sponsor TD Canada Trust — allows the $250,000 festival to offer free events, including a full day of entertainment at Simcoe Park July 28.
“Something like Simcoe Park costs the festival about $40,000,” she says. “You have artist fees, you have security, you have fencing, tents, insurance. It’s free for the public but it’s not free for the festival.”
This year, a second major jazz event debuted in Niagara-onthe-Lake with the Oscar Peterson International Jazz Festival in February. Dunn says it’s a sign of a strong, growing jazz scene in the region.
“There’s a lot of people migrating here from Toronto who are really into the jazz scene, which is fantastic,” she says.
“The other festivals, so far we haven’t really overlapped.”