![]() ![]() Whether you attend the festival for a single act or for the whole weekend, build in time to explore this city 110 miles east of Chicago. This year, festival organizers invested in a mobile app, and they scheduled up-and-coming groups that mix a little rock with jazz to expand appeal. ![]() Support from sponsors and a volunteer staff of 300 has been critical to the festival’s survival, Smith said. Or they can dress up for ticketed and catered marquee events, including a concert in the gorgeous Wellfield Botanic Gardens and a swinging Sunday jazz brunch. People can come in shorts and flip-flops, bring their kids, lawn chairs and picnics, and listen to music for free. The festival has had its peaks and valleys, Smith said, but a willingness to change with times and tastes has been key to the event’s longevity. Keeping it going was another matter, said Lerner Theatre general manager David Smith. With a cadre of people living in Elkhart who share a passion for developing, designing or making musical instruments, a public celebration organized around music was inevitable, Young said. “We are the band-instrument capital of the world,” said jazz radio host and author Van Young, a force behind the festival since the beginning. The jazz festival emerged in 1988 from an idea hatched by a small group of Elkhart movers and shakers, and it has endured uninterrupted despite a recession and a dwindling fan base for traditional jazz. Performers also will lead workshops for young musicians. Musicians, such as legendary pianist Ramsey Lewis, pop crossover artist Ben Folds, the Elkhart County Symphony, award-winning high school jazz bands and local gospel choirs will fill seven stages, ranging from the exquisitely renovated 1,700-seat Lerner Theatre to setups in the streets. It’s a huge, diverse block party for all ages set around 100 hours of music played by an eclectic lineup of performers over three days. This is no “happening” for a throwback crowd. They’ll be dancing in the streets in downtown Elkhart starting June 23, when the sights and sounds of the city’s annual jazz festival fill the air for the 30th time. ![]()
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