The Nanaimo International Jazz Festival Association

The Nanaimo International Jazz Festival Association plans annual jazz festivals in Downtown Nanaimo and professional jazz events throughout the year.

OUR GOALS

• To present an annual jazz festival in Downtown Nanaimo
• To provide local opportunities for local and internationally known jazz artists
• To increase tourism to downtown nanaimo through live jazz performance
• To develop a greater appreciation and audience for jazz music by performing more of it locally
• To work with other jazz festivals and organizations to help further the same and similar goals.

Nanaimo has a distinguished connection with jazz in its professional performers, some who have achieved national and international recognition as well as its jazz education programs in both the public schools and Vancouver Island University.

The History

The Nanaimo International Jazz Festival Association (NIJFA) has successfully produced three annual Jazz festivals. The 2019 Festival alone showcased 105 local musicians to an audience of 3,000 at 14 events – ten of which were free, in six downtown venues. Other jazz presentations in 2019 included our ten-concert “Have You Heard?” series in the spring, and  two additional series we co-produced with local community partners: a 13-concert noon-hour “Sounds of Summer” series in Nanaimo’s Old City Quarter, and a four-concert “Off-Stage-Jazz” series with the Port Theatre. Together, these events comprised 27 performances which showcased 112 local musicians.