Summary
Cheltenham Jazz Festival has celebrated its most successful year to date, with its 30th anniversary edition welcoming record numbers of festival-goers to Montpellier Gardens, connecting over music across a sun-soaked Bank Holiday weekend.
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Marking three decades of world-class music, the 2026 Festival (29 April-4 May), brought together international headliners, genre-defying artists and emerging talent in a vibrant celebration of past, present and future. With over 41,000 tickets sold – more than ever before – this landmark year reaffirmed Cheltenham Jazz Festival’s place as one of Europe’s leading music festivals.
30 Years Young: A Festival Looking to the Future
At the heart of this year’s Festival was a renewed focus on the future of jazz, with GRAMMY award-winning singer and songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae stepping into her new role as Guest Curator for 2026-2028.
Across the week Corinne immersed herself in the Festival, not only performing a standout show in the Festival’s Big Top but also supporting emerging artists and spending time at the Jazz It Up programme, reinforcing her commitment to music education and access.
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Her curatorship signals the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the Festival, with a shared vision centred on creativity, opportunity and nurturing the next generation of talent.
Talking about her experience of Jazz It Up, where Gloucestershire schools come together for a lively celebration of music, Corinne said: [The Festival] reminds me of what music has been for me through my life, how so many people encouraged me as a teenager to get involved with music and I’m really happy to see it’s still happening and that you can see [the] young people growing and blossoming when they’re performing on stage.
The Festival does so much great work. It does work in [the] community; it does work with young people and says how can we get music to people who wouldn’t necessarily walk through these doors.