Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival / Edinburgh Festival Carnival will NOT go ahead in July due to Covid-19 Pandemic – but there’s an online extravaganza to look forward to next week.
First, and most importantly, all of us at Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival hope this message finds you and your loved ones well.
We care deeply about the health and wellbeing of our audiences, musicians and staff, and we have of course been monitoring the Coronavirus situation closely over the last few weeks by following government, NHS and Public Health Scotland advice, and are continually reviewing our position as an organisation.
With this in mind we will not be presenting the 43rd edition of Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival in July. We will also not present the 9th Edinburgh Festival Carnival.
Chair of Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, Councillor Jason Rust said: “The last few weeks have reinforced to me how special live music is, from intimate gigs to great sonic adventures. The sense of community that live music creates is special too as audiences unite with musicians to share a moment.
“I believe music can continue to unite us and bring joy in these worrying times, and we are working on how we can still share that with you in the coming weeks via our online platforms. Our staff are unearthing interesting footage and content to share and working with closely with Scottish musicians to bring you new digital content which is an artistic response to the times.
“As soon as we are able and it is determined safe to do, we will be back presenting live concerts.
“In closing, we’d like to thank our funders, partners, participants and audiences for their loyalty, support and understanding”.
HOWEVER – SOME GOOD NEWS …
For the first time ever, the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival presents a 12 hour online Scottish blues extravaganza featuring established stars like Maggie Bell and Tim Elliott as well as new names like John McKenzie and Liz Jones.
We’re asking to support musicians if you can – since the pandemic started, their livelihoods have been put on hold due to the suspension of live events. We will be highlighting ways you can support them – please give generously if you can.
IT ALL STARTS ON WEDNESDAY 22 APRIL AND THE FULL DETAILS CAN BE FOUND HERE.