JazzFest, the Sioux Falls annual Jazz and Blues Festival, is a three-day outdoor event. The free festival in South Dakota usually takes place the third weekend in July and averages 86,000 attendees. JazzFest features two stages where local and international jazz, blues, zydeco, Latin, reggae, big band, soul and funk musicians perform.
This Iowa City jazz festival began in 1991 with only a few local jazz performers. In 2011, it is recognized throughout the U.S. as an appealing and successful event, averaging over 50,000 attendees each summer. The festival is free and has featured jazz artists like John Scofield, Roy Haynes, Joey de Francesco, Charlie Hunter, Carla Bley, and Patricia Barber.
San Francisco's Fillmore Jazz Festival is the largest free jazz festival on the West Coast. Beginning in 1985, in the early 2000s the festival brings in over 90,000 visitors every year. With stages on the famous Fillmore Street, where legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong performed, the Fillmore Jazz Festival is an annual event that takes place on Independence Day weekend.
The first Yellowstone Jazz Festival took place in July 1988 and has since presented talented jazz musicians from across the country. The festival takes place in the Yellowstone National Park area in Cody, Wyoming, every mid-July. It is a two-day event, and most of the performances are free. Past performers include The Home Wreckers, Frank Wess, Sheila Jordan and founding member Ronnie Bedford.
The Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz is New England's largest free jazz festival. It began in July 1992 and attracts more than 45,000 concert goers every year. The three-day event showcases international and local jazz performers on multiple stages. Some notable performances have included The George Shearing Quintet, Gerald Albright and Herbie Mann, and The Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington.
The first Evergreen Jazz Festival took place in 2001 and featured nine bands, including Golden Gate Rhythm Machine and James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band. Since then, the three-day event has played host to Queen City Jazz Band and Hot Tomatoes Dance Orchestra. There are five venues, each one small and intimate, creating a traditional live jazz atmosphere for both the audience and performers. The Evergreen Jazz Festival takes place in Evergreen, Colorado, at the end of July.