BROOKFIELD — After a year hiatus, the Fresh Coast Jazz Festival will be back in Milwaukee for 2021. The three-day inaugural festival was held at the Marcus Center for Performing Arts in August of 2019, then canceled due to COVID-19 in 2020. It’s back this year with a fall date and a smaller footprint.
"As a brand new festival in 2019, losing 2020 and [most of] 2021, we lost some momentum and we wanted to recapture that momentum. We thought if we do something one day in October of 2021, then hopefully we’ll be moving further beyond all that was going in 2020 and earlier in 2021," said organizer Carl Brown
This year’s festival will be held Oct. 9, 2021 at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield. It will be a one-day event that includes not only music but food trucks and vendors as well. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test will be required for entry. Tickets can be purchased on their website and the festival is offering 100 free tickets to healthcare and school system workers who qualify.
One of the headliners of this year’s event, Kansas City jazz musician Julian Vaughn, says he is excited to get back in front of a live audience. “This year things have sort of cleared up a little bit and we’re back out there, and you know it feels good to get on stage and do what you love to do,” said Vaughn.
Organizers say they are already working on returning the 2022 jazz festival to its Summer dates and a three-day format in downtown Milwaukee at the Pabst Theater.
