41st Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival, various venues, Birmingham, Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Sutton Coldfield, Solihull.

Dates: Friday, July 18, 2025 - Sunday, July 27, 2025

Featuring: Various Artists

More details

We have received the following information regarding this event;

41st Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival
Friday 18th to Sunday 27th July

The 2025 Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival Programme is now at the printers and will soon be available from all participating venues, Birmingham & Sandwell Libraries and the official Festival Information Centre, Snobs Bar.

I know there’s been some speculation about the future of our much-loved Jazz & Blues Festival, so I’d like to assure everyone that this, the 41st year of the festival is absolutely going ahead from July 18th to 27th, with over 160 performances – more than 95% of them completely free to attend – across 103 venues in Sandwell, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Sutton Coldfield and Solihull, with top class musicians from across the UK, France, Italy, USA, New Zealand and Sweden.

This festival is a celebration of live music, community, and resilience – and in challenging times, that spirit shines even brighter.

While it’s true that Birmingham City Council has made the difficult decision to withdraw arts funding for 2024/25, and we have also experienced the loss of support from Westside BID this year, amounting to a combined shortfall of £45,000, our response has been to push forward with renewed purpose – and the support we have received has been nothing short of inspiring.

We are grateful to Sandwell Council and The Musicians’ Union, whose unwavering backing has been essential to our continued success. We’re also pleased to be in promising discussions with the West Midlands Growth Company, who we hope will be supporting the festival for the very first time.

Your support has also been extraordinary. Through our GoFundMe campaign, individuals and fans of the festival have been stepping up to contribute, helping secure our future – whether through small donations or simply by spreading the word.

In 2024, despite the sudden and significant funding cuts – which coincided, ironically, with the festival’s 40th consecutive year – we chose to celebrate louder and larger than ever before. We delivered 239
performances, 230 of them free, in 120 venues to nearly 88,000 people. No other event in this region can match that track record.

While no new institutional funders came forward last year, you did – our loyal and supportive audience. You showed up in full force, proving once again that this festival belongs to the community that supports and loves it.

Thanks to a mix of funding, generous donations, and a personal loan I’ve taken out to safeguard the event, I’m proud to confirm that the 2025 festival is secure and will proceed as planned.

That said, we can’t do this alone. The long-term future of this unique event depends on meaningful investment from cultural, business, and arts organisations. If you or your company can help, we’d love to talk.

Finally, with our limited funding, we’ve had to stretch every resource, and as a result, we are very much behind schedule in our planning – for which we sincerely apologise. We’re working hard, and your understanding means the world to us.

Jim Simpson
Festival Director

Social Media
Follow our Social Media pages for exciting and informative updates about the festival and artists!!
Instagram:@birminghamjazzfestival
Facebook:@birminghamjazzfestival
TikTok:@birminghamjazzfestival

Support The Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival

For every one of the last 40 years, The Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival has been the highlight of this region’s festival attractions, the only event determined enough to present a free live music programme through both of those Covid years.

In 2024, this festivals 40th edition, Birmingham City Council found themselves unable to provide any financial support as they had done for the previous 39 years. Nevertheless, against all the odds we presented 239 performances, 230 of them free admission in 120 venues over 10 days, attracting a total audience of nearly 88,000.

This year the festival faces an even sterner position with our other major funder unable to offer any support. This, combined with the lack of Birmingham City Council funding, has resulted in a total loss of £45,000 for the Festival since 2023.

We are determined to present The 41st Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival from July 18 to 27 this year, but we are forced to face the reality. If we cannot raise sufficient funding to fill the gap, then after this year the City and its residents and visitors, will lose this internationally known and respected festival.

So we have to ask your for your support to help us through these troubled times.

Your contribution, no matter how big or small, will make a tremendous difference to keep the festival going and, most importantly, to keep it growing.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-birmingham-jazz-blues-festival?