Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival coming back in 2027 after huge audiences this summer.

A total audience of well over 62,000 this summer means the Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival is coming back for its 43rd consecutive year in 2027.

Organisers at Big Bear Music have revealed that 178 gigs, 165 with free admission, performed at 102 venues in Birmingham, Sandwell and the wider West Midlands attracted audiences totalling 62,702 across 11 days this August.

And a survey of that audience has revealed that an impressive 98% rated performances ‘very good’ (83%) or ‘Good’ (15%), while 86% said they expected to visit the festival again in 2027.

Jim Simpson, the renowned Birmingham music impresario who runs Big Bear Music, today confirmed that the “overwhelming enthusiasm” of live music fans means the festival will run again from 16 to 25 July in 2027.

He also revealed that a crowdfunder campaign launched to help support the festival’s costs had now reached nearly £10,000. Those public donations, together with a £10,000 grant from Sandwell Borough Council, £800 from The Musicians’ Union and £650 from USA broadcaster Rockefellas TV, mean that the 2026 festival’s financial support totalled nearly £21,500.

The 2026 festival featured 59 musical acts and 265 musicians from Birmingham, the West Midlands and across the UK, many acknowledged as leading British jazz and blues musicians.

International musicians included Andres Roots (Tartu, Estonia), the B. D. Lenz Trio (New Jersay, USA), Ben Toury (Paris, France), Miho Hazama (Tokyo, Japan) and Stacy Mitchhart (Cincinnati, USA).

Venues included everywhere from stately homes to markets, art galleries to libraries and gardens to shopping centres, as well as clubs, pubs, bars, cafés, hotels, city squares, museums and bandstands.