About Hampton Jazz Festival

Hampton Jazz Festival has brought the best of jazz, pop, blues, soul, and R&B for more than five decades, with each year more exciting than the last.

The first Hampton Jazz Festival was held at Hampton University’s Armstrong Stadium in 1968 to celebrate HU’s 100th Anniversary. The best in jazz showed up to play including Cannonball Adderley, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Herbie Mann Quintet, Thelonius Monk Quintet, Dionne Warwick, and Muddy Waters and his Blues Band.

The popular event was held again the following year, but moved to the newly-built Hampton Coliseum in 1970 where it has since become an annual tradition every last weekend in June. With the exception of 1975 through 1985 when the festival was renamed the Hampton Kool Jazz Festival because of its sponsorship from the Newport cigarette company, the Festival has remained virtually unchanged.

HJF has traditionally featured major R&B, gospel, jazz, pop, blues and crossover stars. The lineup infuses a mix of talent, with local musicians from the Hampton Roads area acting as openers to nationally recognized headliners. Music icons such as B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington, and Ray Charles have graced the stage while newer artists like Kenny G, David Sanborn, and Dave Koz follow closely in their footsteps.

Thousands of guests travel from across the nation to celebrate an annual reunion of family members, friends, and Hampton University alumni. The City of Hampton boasts a great economic impact throughout the weekend as out-of-towners enjoy the city’s hotels, local restaurants, nearby attractions, and other small businesses.

The Jazz Festival commemorated its 50^th anniversary in 2017 with a special performance from jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis who performed in the inaugural lineup. Also worth celebrating is Maze featuring Frankie Beverly who holds the record for most Hampton Jazz Festival performances with 17 appearances.

The three-day festival is co-produced by Hampton University, the City of Hampton, and the Santangelo Group, Inc.