jazzahead!, the world's largest international jazz trade fair, will take place again in 2021 – digitally

Under the motto “Close together from afar", the azzahead! organisers announce that they intend to implement large parts of the 15th jazz trade fair virtually. The dates will be Thursday 29 April to Sunday, 2 May 2021. These changes primarily affect the trade fair and the programme for industry participants. “Our goal is to facilitate and to foster exchange within the international jazz scene, so we will ensure that this can take place online under the best possible professional conditions, despite the pandemic," says Sybille Kornitschky who runs jazzahead! for MESSE BREMEN. “This includes digital networking opportunities as well as panels and workshops with exciting content that is topical and important for the international scene." In addition, exhibitors will be given the opportunity to offer their own digital sessions.

Showcase festival concerts will take place in 2021—partner country Canada participation postponed into 2022

Kornitschky and her team have transferred the bands selected for the Showcases in 2020 into the programme for 2021. The partner country, Canada, on the other hand, has had to postpone its participation until 2022. “After careful consideration, we have decided jointly to move our cooperation forwards into the following year," says Kornitschky. One of the reasons for this was the Canadian government's travel ban for its citizens to European countries. The withdrawal of the partner country for 2021 means that the opening of the festival in Theater Bremen, the Gala Concert at the Glocke concert hall, and the cultural programme involving Canada will also be cancelled. As a result, the selection of bands which would have made up the Canadian Night of jazzahead! will also be postponed to 2022. Nevertheless, jazz fans can look forward to a few surprises from Canada at 2021‘s digital jazzahead! edition.

Also the CLUBNIGHT is being reconfigured, the new look will be announced soon.

Showcase festival to be produced live in Bremen

As far as it is possible, the Showcase concerts in April will be produced live in Bremen for digital streaming. And where this is not possible, jazzahead! will look for alternatives, in partnership and collaboration with the 32 bands from Germany, Europe and overseas. “We are planning to have maximum flexibility, and even leaving a window open for 'analogue' events!“ Kornitschky explains: “If access for the public is allowed again in April, we will allow access to the concerts for audiences at short notice and we will be offering tickets." The livestreams will initially only be available to registered trade participants. For the general public, the showcase concerts will then be available online after a delay.

Interested parties can register for the digital event from mid-January via the homepage jazzahead.de. Prices, terms and conditions are now also available on the website. In the interim before this, the jazzahead! team invites you to visit the new jazzahead! Blog, and also their live sessions via the jazzahead! Facebook page.

The 15th jazzahead!, the anniversary edition of the world's largest jazz trade fair, was originally scheduled to take place from Thursday 23 to Sunday 26 April 2020, in Halls 6 and 7 of MESSE BREMEN, with the accompanying festival from Friday 17 to Sunday 26 April 2020. Unfortunately, the entire event had to be cancelled at relatively short notice because of the Corona pandemic.

About jazzahead!

Launched in 2006, jazzahead! is the largest jazz trade fair in the world. Having grown steadily, the industry gathering is also known as the place where the jazz family gets together – the event has never lost its family character. The 40 showcase concerts during the fair and the jazzahead! Festival are also aimed at the general public. Since 2011, this festival, together with around 60 cooperation partners, has presented the cultural scene of a different partner country each year, plus bands from all over the world as part of the CLUBNIGHT, in which around 30 venues in Bremen participate. Since 2015, jazzahead! has been funded by the German Federal Government‘s Commissioner for Culture and the Media. In 2019 it was awarded the title of European Cultural Brand of the Year.