Swanage Jazz Festival has been running every year since 1991 (except for two years when Covid restrictions prevented it). It is probably the oldest and the largest pure Jazz Festival on the South Coast of England. The Festival takes place on the second weekend in July, just before the schools break up.  The town is well populated with holidaymakers then.

Swanage Jazz Festival is a non-profit Company Ltd by Guarantee run by an experienced Committee.  It is eligible for and planning to seek Charitable status in the near future.

Swanage Jazz Festival runs a ticketed programme and co-ordinates a free Festival Fringe which runs in local pubs, bars and hotels. The Festival starts at 4pm on the Friday afternoon and runs until 10.30pm on the Sunday night. In 2024 it featured 78 performances by 75 bands. Our main venues are The Mowlem Theatre and a 450 capacity marquee on Sandpit Field.

The main ticketed programme runs simultaneously in three to four venues with different and complementary styles of Jazz in each venue.  The programme spans 1920s New Orleans Jazz to the latest contemporary sounds, with the emphasis on post-1940s Jazz.  In recent years the Festival has bought in new rising stars such as Xhosa Cole, Emma Rawicz and Tom Waters as well as British established legends such as James Taylor, Art Themen, Elaine Delmar, Alan Barnes, David Newton and Norma Winstone.

Audiences mostly purchase day or weekend stroller tickets allowing them to pick which of the 40 or so ticketed performances they wish to attend.  They will probably see up to 10 performances over the weekend.  The Festival is also seeking to reach out to a younger audience, especially families with children who are in Swanage for the weekend, with free performances that will appeal to a non-specialist audience.

In 2024 the Festival performances were enjoyed by around 11,500 people over the weekend. 

Swanage Jazz Festival has a profile amongst Jazz enthusiasts across Britain and reaches them through Direct Mail – it has a mailing list of 1,000 people plus adverts in specialist Jazz magazines and through Social Media. We have a strong brand and a loyal audience.

A survey of the Festival’s 2024 ticket buyers showed that 75% of the Festival’s audience come from outside Dorset bringing visitors and economic benefit to the area.

Over half of the audience came from Dorset, Hampshire, Devon, Sussex, Oxfordshire and Berkshire – Southern England. That means around 47% come from further afield with some people coming from as far as Yorkshire, Scotland and South Wales.

A 2023 Survey revealed that 88% of those completing the survey were aged 60 or older.  On the one hand it is a well-heeled audience popular with Swanage as they spend money in the Town.  They are probably ABC1 social status.  At the same time the Committee is aware of the audience age and is seeking to attract a younger audience to enhance the Festival’s longer term viability. 

Here are some audience comments from the 2024 Festival:

“We had the very best time, met amazing people including wonderful children and their families and enjoyed the beautiful, no… stunning setting plus, the luxury of enjoying your jazz programming during the evening too.”

“Congratulations on putting on such an excellent festival. Dave and I enjoyed watching a variety of outstanding musicians. Liane Carroll was absolutely brilliant and definitely better than watching the football!”

Sponsoring Swanage Jazz Festival offers a number of benefits including:

Brand visibility  

We will ensure your brand is clearly visible in our marketing and at the Festival itself and raise customer awareness for your products or services. Our printed programmes tend to be retained – they are a useful reference book.

Client relations and hospitality

You could have the opportunity to invite and entertain clients at the Festival

Staff Rewards and Incentives

You could offer Festival tickets as rewards and incentives for your staff

Meet new customers and offer sales incentives

Depending on your business, the Festival could be a good place to meet new customers and offer discounts or sales incentives

All of the above depend on what level of sponsorship you wish to consider.