Jazz-Espa Kept Rain at Bay – The 25th Anniversary Program Engaged Audience

The Jazz-Espa festival, organized by the Finnish Jazz Federation, celebrated its 25th anniversary in nice weather. The week-long Jazz-Espa serves annually as a window to diverse Finnish jazz music. Helsinki's Deputy Mayor Paavo Arhinmäki opened the urban festival on Monday, July 29 and reminded in his speech that the event is also a rare cultural production for both city residents and tourists on an international scale.

During the festival, in addition to fifteen contemporary and broadly Finnish jazz concerts, there were two panel discussions: one delving into the current state and future prospects of jazz, and the other into the state of music journalism in Finland. The program was further expanded by an evening club in collaboration with Restaurant Grotesk, featuring a performance by VIRTA. A new addition for the anniversary year was Jazz-Espa's Children's Saturday: the festival's final day on August 3 was dedicated to family concerts, with Screaming Jay & The Bones and Megasakki performing to a large, enthusiastic audience who danced and sang along. This day was a perfect conclusion to the anniversary event. Jazz-Espa featured a total of 57 musicians and attracted approximately 5000 attendees.

“It was delightful to see how Jazz-Espa's concerts drew a diverse audience to different performances. We received a lot of appreciative feedback from the audience, which also highlighted the significance of providing free, easily accessible, yet artistically high-quality cultural offerings in Helsinki's beautiful park center,” summarizes Jazz-Espa's producer Annika Mustonen.

Help Develop the Future of the Event

The Finnish Jazz Federation is collecting feedback on the Jazz-Espa event through an online survey. Feedback is particularly sought to enhance the event's accessibility. By participating, you can provide valuable input into the development of Jazz-Espa. The survey can be answered anonymously in Finnish and English and is open until September 10, 2024.

https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/94582719221C8067

Jazz-Espa was organized by the Finnish Jazz Federation in cooperation with the Savoy Theatre, which manages the Espa Stage. Other supporters of the event include: Helsinki Cultural Centre, William Thuring Foundation, Oskar Öflund Foundation, Music Promotion Foundation, Concert Centre, Jazz Department of the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, Embassy of Estonia in Helsinki, Restaurant Kappeli, Pop & Jazz Conservatory, and Grotesk Helsinki. The Finnish Jazz Federation warmly thanks all supporters who made the event possible.