The Dixieland Festival Dresden – is an international festival of jazz and blues music, the oldest jazz festival in Europe and one of the largest dixieland festivals in the world. It has been held annually since 1971, in mid-May and lasts a week.
Dresden – is an ancient German city with a rich history and architectural heritage. But there are other attractions in the capital of Saxony that are not related to the wonders of architecture and art, namely the – Dixieland jazz festival, which brings together professional performers and simply connoisseurs of this musical movement.
It’s not for nothing that Dresden is known as the capital of old jazz; every year more than 500 thousand fans of hot rhythms and more than 350 famous musicians from more than 10 countries gather for the festival. Over the years, such jazz stars as The Jackson Singers, Blue Wonder Jazzband, Cynthia Sayer & Hot Jazz Group, Mart Rodger's Manchester Jazz, Blue Wonder Jazzband, Pascal von Wroblewski, Steve Clayton, Dixieland messengers and other groups and performers demonstrated their skills here.
During the festival, more than 60 concerts take place at two dozen stage venues in the city, as well as many impromptu performances at a variety of – venues in concert halls and on the streets, in cafes and bars, in parks and squares, on ships and even in the zoo.
This colorful event traditionally starts in the central square of Dresden with a performance by young jazz players from kindergartens and primary school students from city schools. Then adult performers demonstrate their skills. All this is accompanied by applause from thousands of enthusiastic spectators.
Every year, Dixieland gives fans an exquisite musical program. In addition to performances by leading jazzmen, the festival includes seminars and thematic music exhibitions and sales.
The program also includes children's and family concerts, fireworks and mini-parades. The whole city sings and dances to fiery music. By tradition, some performances are free for the public.
The final chord of Dixieland – is the general finale and a large parade of participating ensembles, which have closed the festival for several years and are especially popular points of the program.
The Dresden Dixieland Festival – is a fun spring holiday that all citizens and guests of the Saxon capital are happy about, and where musicians and listeners miraculously unite through the mesmerizing rhythms of jazz and blues. And every year more and more fans of this musical genre come to the festival, both young people and older people.