Mission Valley Hosts Jazz Festival “Crown Jewel”

Discerning jazz fans call the San Diego Jazz Fest "the crown jewel of classic jazz festivals". The event is held during the Thanksgiving weekend at the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center, in San Diego’s Mission Valley. 

The SD Jazz Fest is a favorite of festival-goers from around the globe. All venues are conveniently located in the Town & Country Convention Center. There are large concert rooms with double dance floors and small, intimate "listening" rooms.  All are non-smoking. The Festival bands and individual guest artists represent a wide variety of traditional jazz, Dixieland, Ragtime, Swing, and Rockabilly styles.  

The 35^th Annual San Diego Jazz Fest will be held November 26-30, 2014.  Wednesday evening will feature two bands, 7 - 11pm. Two rooms with large dance floors and seven bands are on tap for Thursday evening 6 – 11pm.  For Friday (10am – midnight), Saturday (9am – midnight) and Sunday (8:15am – 6pm), all bands will be performing throughout the weekend … totaling over 175 one-hour performances.   

A special Swing Dance Extravaganza is scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights, 7pm to midnight with local San Diego and nationally known bands.  Features include a “Battle of the Bands”, dance performances, and continuous music.  

The festival offers something for every taste in classic jazz.  Ticket prices, band lineup, performance schedules and other information can be found at www.SDjazzfest.org

For more information about top events in California take a look at the Top Events USA selection of the annual main festivals and events in the San Diego region as well as the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.

Augusta, Georgia Arts Event Stacks Up Awards

For the 34^th year in a row, the Greater Augusta Arts Council presents Augusta’s signature arts event, Arts in the Heart of Augusta, an award winning festival, on September 19-21, 2014.

The Festival won a Silver Best Festival Kaleidoscope Award from Southeast Festival and Events Association and was selected as a Top 20 Event by Southeast Tourism Society in 2013.

The Festival was also selected as Best Festival in 2013 by readers of both Augusta Magazine and Columbia County Magazine. Additionally, the Festival Committee welcomes back American Family Insurance as the Festival’s major sponsor.

Festivities will take place on the Augusta Common and Broad Street which will be closed from 7^th Street through 10^th Street. As always, the Festival comprises the Global Village with authentic ethnic foods from 20 different countries; a Fine Arts and Crafts Market with over 110 juried fine arts and crafts booths; free crafts for kids; and a Young Artists Market where school-aged artists sell their work; and several stages stacked with live, local entertainment.

Exciting new attractions for the 2014 Festival include: an expansion of the Festival to 7^th Street to create a dedicated family area including free hands-on craft activities for kids, fine arts and crafts booths appealing to children and their parents, several food booths from the Global Village, and the Young Artist Market.

Also new is the addition of a fifth stage specifically for jazz performances, alongside the regular stages which are: the Global Stage on the Common, presenting international performers and headline musicians; the Family Stage, presenting entertainment from local community arts organizations; the Community Stage, presenting local bands; and the Troubadour Stage, highlighting spoken word and acoustic performances. 

Additionally, the new countries that will be represented in the Global Village are: Sweden, Micronesia/Indonesia and Cyprus.

Visit www.artsintheheart.com for more details, Like the festival on Facebook and follow it on Twitter, @artintheheart14.

For more information about top events in Georgia take a look at the Top Events USA selection of the annual main festivals and events in Georgia.