For ten days each summer, the city of Saskatoon bursts into song as the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival plays host to hundreds of world class artists. Thousands of music fans devour the sounds of jazz, blues, funk, pop, and world music each year, with a program that spans as many genres as it does continents.
The first festival took place in Saskatoon during the summer of 1987. Today it has become the second largest festival of its kind in Western Canada, and since 2009 has been named Best Festival in Planet S Magazine Best of Saskatoon reader’s poll. In 2023, the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival also won the Venue/Festival of the Year at the Saskatchewan Music Awards, and was named Best Place to Volunteer in the Arts Sector by Planet S Magazine’s Best of Saskatoon reader poll. In 2024, the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival was nominated for the Canadian Live Music Industry Awards in the Major Festival of the Year category, and Executive Director Shannon Josdal was nominated in the Festival Buyer of the Year category as well.
TD Mainstage performance, 2023 Festival
About the organization
The Saskatchewan Jazz Festival, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is owned by The Saskatoon Jazz Society (SJS). The SJS is the sole member of the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival and as such oversees the Festival at arm’s length to ensure that it continues to offer jazz quality programming while maintaining a prudent and competitive business model. The mandate of the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival is to stage an artistically significant annual festival of jazz and related music. The Festival is a nonprofit organization and registered charity.
The Saskatchewan Jazz Festival is governed by a board of directors and employs a permanent staff of three. Over 450+ volunteers are recruited each year for the ten days of the festival.
Mission
The Saskatchewan Jazz Festival Inc, is an international jazz festival that fosters, promotes and presents jazz music in its diverse forms to the people of Saskatchewan. The festival provides opportunities for the professional development of Saskatchewan musicians and a variety of educational experiences for the people of Saskatchewan.
Vision
Create enjoyable opportunities of involvement with jazz to the people of Saskatchewan with an internationally recognized festival that is revered for its high quality performances, financial self-sufficiency, sense of community ownership and deep cultural impact.
Land Acknowledgement
The Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival takes place on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. We pay our respect to the First Nations and Métis ancestors of this place and reaffirm our relationship with one another.