Sacramento

Swing to Rock!  MORE CHARM, MORE FUN!!

The 40th Annual Sacramento Music Festival promises to be another fantastic event! Since 1974, the Memorial Day Weekend Event has brought together musicians and jazz aficionados from around the world to celebrate on Memorial Day Weekend.    Now, there's music of all types for EVERYONE to enjoy!!

What to Expect:

This year’s Festival will offer more than 450 sets of live music! That's 24 venues with over 70 bands, including a few dozen internationally-known artists that will have revelers dancing in the streets! It's one giant party as the sounds of rock-n-roll, jazz, blues, zydeco, Latin jazz, Western swing, and more permeate Old Sacramento and the Downtown area. Traditional jazz,  also known as Dixieland or classic jazz, inspired by the great Louis Armstrong; soulful blues and rockin' blues; Swing and Western swing; Cajun and zydeco Country; rockabilly and bluegrass;  Latin and Mariachi music; New Orleans 2nd-line & street beat Straight-ahead & mainstream jazz;  Ragtime and early jazz; Marching bands, Youth bands,  Banjo performances at the California State Railroad Museum and on excursion trains will rock Sacramento all Memirail Weekend! The 2012 Emperor is longtime participant and year-round STJS volunteer Bob Ringwald. Yes, he IS Molly Ringwald's dad, but he is also a fabulous pianist and vocalist, and band leader for the Fulton Street Jazz Band (the only band to have played at every single Sac. Jazz Jubilee since it began in 1974).

This year’s line up of artists scheduled to appear include, besides 2012 Festival Emperor Bob Ringwald and the Fulton Street Jazz Band, 2011 Festival Emperor Tom Rigney and his band Flambeau, Banu Gibson and New Orleans Hot Jazz, the Black Dogs, 2010 Boogie-Woogie Piano Hall of Fame Inductee Carl “Sonny” Leland, Lisa Haley and the Zydekats, Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers, La Descarga, Vince Bartels’ International Swing Quintet, Steelin’ Dan (the music of Steely Dan), Hal Smith’s International Sextet, Johnny Cash Tribute featuring James Garner, Cats ‘n’ Jammer Jazz Band, the Rhythm Vandals tribute to the music of Santana, Red Skunk Jipzee Swing Band, The Nibblers, Sacramento Blues Review, Mariachi Los Gallos and more. Traditional Next Generation Youth Bands will also be performing and include the J Street Jazz Cats, Raisin Babies, Take 2, TNT, the Arden Middle School Band, Crazy Eights and others.

Don't Miss These:

The event kicks off on Friday and runs through Memorial Day. Specialty concerts and events include the Sacramento Jazz Festival Parade in Old Sacramento on Saturday, a Swing Dance Contest on Sunday (after a rousing Sunday morning Gospel Set) and a Memorial Day Salute to Service. Bring the kids and start lining Old Sacramento's streets at around 8:30 a.m. just to get a good vantage point for watching our parade of musicians and entertainers as they wind their way around Old Sacramento's storied streets. The parade starts at 10 – arrive early to get a good viewing position, or, have room if you want to dance in the streets!  You'll see marching bands, of course, but that's only part of it. Fire trucks, antique cars and limousines, colorful costumes, military color guards and various dignitaries, will all be in motion.

Along with the incredible four days of music, some of the best food imaginable will be available at numerous locations throughout the entire festival.

Where to Enjoy the Festival

Old Sacramento venues include THE DELTA KING, Freeway Gardens, The Golden Eagle Room, The Firehouse Courtyard, Firehouse Lot, The Whistle Stop, Turntable Junction, The Depot, Riverfront Refuge, Round Table Pizza, CALIFORNIA STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM, Drexel University and Railroad Museum Theatre. Downtown, you’ll catch concerts and dancing at THE HOLIDAY INN, SHERATON GRAND, EMBASSY SUITES, HYATT REGENCY and the Convention Center. Take the Dash trolley between Old Sacramento and the Convention Center, or just boogey down K Street on your dancing feet!

Click on the Map icon for locations and venues!

Tickets are $110 for an all-event pass. A Friday ticket is $35, Saturday & Sunday are $45, and Monday is $20 or $10 for 65 and older.

Please log onto www.sacmusicfest.com   or call 916-372-5277.