The Nanaimo International Jazz Festival Association presents its major fall festival in and around downtown Nanaimo annually and also hosts or co-presents myriad jazz events throughout the year.
The Nanaimo International Jazz Festival Association (NIJFA) has successfully produced eight annual Jazz festivals. The Festivals showcased about 100 musicians, many of them from Vancouver Island, to an audience of over 2,000 at many events – most of which were free, in six downtown venues plus the street concerts. Other jazz presentations in the past included “Have You Heard?” and”LIVE @” series in the spring, noon concerts “Sounds of Summer” series in Nanaimo’s Old City Quarter and much more.
• March 8 Joani Taylor Trio and Cauleigh Borsboom Trio, first concert “Women in Jazz” LIVE @ The Shaw
• March 22 Anne Scheafer Quartet & Tina Turner Quintet, second concert “Women in Jazz” LIVE @ The Shaw
• April 12 Jodi Proznick Quartet with Shruti Ramani, third concert “Women in Jazz” LIVE @ The Shaw
• April 26 Leading Ladies Big Band with Casey Thomas-Burns, fourth concert “Women in Jazz” LIVE @ The Shaw
• May 5 SE:UM a co-production with the Port Theatre of jazz players and Korean traditional musicians
• July 5 – Sept 8 Sounds of Summer co-produced with The Old City Quarters (OCQ) 16 free concerts
• August 15, Night Market with Chamber of Commerce – Street Music Walk- Fall Festival promotion
• Sept 6 Jesse Marshall – Vancouver Island Sculpting Studio “Jazz me a Note” opening event for the 2024 Festival
• Sept 12 – 15, 8th annual Fall Festival, 1 Concert at The Port Theatre, 8 other venues and 2 days on the street for free concerts, 100 performers
• Sept 29 Cory Weeds Quartet at Simonholt restaurant the last event of 2024 Festival Mark Godfrey at Nanaimo Conservatory of Music
• Jan 22 Cameron BBC Trio at the Shaw Auditorium
• Feb 17 Mardi Gras co-production with Nanaimo Blues Society
• June 2 – Sept 15 Sounds of Summer co-produced with The Old City Quarters (OCQ) 16 free concerts
• August 17 & 31, Night Market with Chamber of Commerce – Street Music Walk- Fall Festival promotion
• April 17, Florian Hoefner at Nanaimo Conservatory of Music
• Jul 8 Aline Homzy co-produced with Quadrangle Music at Simonholt Restaurant Restaurant
• Sept 15 – 17, 7th Fall Festival, 1 Concert at The Port Theatre, 5 other venues and 3 days on the street for free concerts, 114 performers
• Nov 18 Mark Godfrey at Nanaimo Conservatory of Music
• Nov 26 Queen Kong co-production with QuadWrangle Music at SimonHolt Restaurant
• March 26 – April 30 Live @ The Shaw, 6 double concerts & 4 pre-show talks
• June 3 – Sept 16 Sounds of Summer co-produced with The Old City Quarters (OCQ) 16 free concerts
• Sept 16 – 18 Fall Festival 2 concerts at The Port Theatre, 2 days on the street & 4 other venues for 16 concerts (10 free)
• Nov 8 Code Quartet (Christine Jensen) co-produced with Quadrangle Music at Simonholt Restaurant Restaurant
• March 1 – 20 NIJFA Virtual Festival, Shelton Brooks Musical Tribute, 9 concerts on-line, free and still available on YouTube
• Oct 17 – Nov 19 Fall Festival at the Port Theatre 4 double shows, live and streamed
• January Off Stage Series at The Port Theatre 1 concert
• COVID period, all activities were reported
• September 2019 3rd Annual 3-day Downtown Jazz Festival – 14 events
• March – June, 2019 Have You Heard? jazz 10-concert series in the Shaw Auditorium.
• June to August Sounds of Summer 2019 (with Old City Quarter) 13 concerts.
• August 22, 2019 Night Market with Chamber of Commerce – one event
• Various dates 2018 & 2019 Off Stage Jazz Series with Port Theatre – – 4 concerts
• August 30, 2019 Night Market with Chamber of Commerce – one event
• Have You Heard? Concert Series – March to June 2018 at the Shaw Auditorium
• September 2018 2nd Annual 3-day Downtown Jazz Festival – 12 events.
• May 2018 Identity/Who Are You: Live Jazz-Tap Dance-Street Dance with Crimson Coast Dance Society
• June to August Sounds of Summer 2018 (with Old City Quarter) 13 concerts.
• December & June 2017 Free Jazz for Homeless & Low Income Dinners
• September 2017 Inaugural 3-day Jazz Festival 12 events.
• July 2017 Jazz/Dance Jam – dance collaboration with Crimson Coast Dance Society.
• February – March, 2017 Nanaimo Museum display: 100 Years of Recorded Jazz
• February, 2017 Port Theatre concert: 100th Birthday of the first Jazz Recording
• December, 2016 A Tour of the Blues: Celebrating the Music of W.C. Handy
• November 2016 NIJFA’s public launch at the Port Theatre.
The Nanaimo International Jazz Festival Association presents its major fall festival in and around downtown Nanaimo annually and also hosts or co-presents myriad jazz events throughout the year.