The Richmond Jazz and Music Festival is the area’s premiere annual celebration of Black American music. Renamed a few years ago to reflect the reality that the center of gravity was more modern R&B than jazz, which has become vestigial even in the event’s branding — it draws a good crowd every year to an idyllic Maymont setting.
In its 14th iteration since 2010 (it lost two festivals during COVID) there are some substantial changes this year, even if the core appeal remains the same.
“I think something that everyone is going to enjoy is the change in the format,” says festival spokesperson Frances Burress. “In years past, we’ve had the Virginia is for Lovers stage near the entrance and the Dominion Energy stage across the hilltop a fair hike away. This year they will be much closer, reducing the length you have to travel through the August heat. And we are alternating performances, with no overlapping sets. Everyone will get the chance to see every artist.”
More shade, alternating stages
Attending the Festival used to require charting a course through the acts, sometimes seeing the beginning of one before heading to another. The path inevitably led through a gauntlet of temptations: food trucks, drinks and vendor stalls. Sometimes the sun was brutal. The most crowded area at Dominion Stage was often a wide shade tree a hundred yards up the nearby hill…