As far as festivals go, the Halifax Jazz Festival is best described as a city festival. There are no tent villages or campsites—at least not ones for sleeping in. A lucky few were able to enjoy the music from stadium-style bleachers, but most spectators seemed to prefer standing in the middle of the festival grounds, taking it all in with their plastic beer cups in hand. With a modest crowd gathered for the opening performance it felt a bit empty, but as the t-shirt says, “Keep calm and Chaka Khan.”
The audience on the Halifax Waterfront on July 12th was, in fact, ready to get their groove on; it just took Roxy and the Underground Soul Sound to jump-start their energy. The crowd quickly thickened. By the time Chaka Khan took the stage the crowd was pressed against the front guard rails. Perhaps it was the fact that the night’s main act was a ten-time Grammy Award winner with a voice described by Aretha Franklin as “one of a kind” that drew Haligonians to the waterfront on the coolest day of summer so far.
If you are looking for a family-friendly experience, Halifax Jazz Festival brought a ton of free shows to the downtown Halifax area during the day. There was even a stage set up over the weekend on the Dartmouth side, accessible via ferry. Performances in Dartmouth ranged from the Global Centric Brass Band to Son Latino. In other words, it was the perfect musical background for your Saturday morning Dartmouth Farmers’ Market experience!
With Theodore Tugboat currently stationed in Saint John for the summer, the festival decided to move its Splash! Bang! Boom! event aboard the Tall Ship Silva—one of the Halifax Waterfront most iconic visuals. The child-friendly show was free but first-come-first-served, and the vessel couldn’t hold that many people, regardless of their diminutive stature. Still, the idea of a free Jazz concert on an authentic Tall Ship speaks to the festival’s efforts to attract the multitude of tourists on the waterfront into the festival experience.
There is indeed something for everyone at the Halifax Jazz Festival, whether you are a jazz fan or not. Friday, July 13th, turned out to be a lucky day for those who enjoy drumming—the TD Jazz Lab moved to the North Memorial Library for the Drum Workshop, which was perhaps a preview for Sunday’s show with Alan Syliboy and the Thundermakers in Hydrostone Park.
The weekend schedule was packed with local artists, drawing crowds despite the humidity and hot temperatures. The community stages allowed for free family entertainment, lending reason for many to venture out to Halifax North’s Hydrostone Park. After all, it’s not every day you get to experience a brass band and then a swing band following Kitty and the Katz.
It isn’t all about music either—the Halifax Food Truck Community showed up to provide sustenance that was a bit more palatable than the average greasy festival fare. If you have never experienced the Halifax FTC, you will be pleasantly delighted by the range of offerings from gourmet grilled cheese to vegan-only dishes. Perhaps it was not the ideal offering with festival-served beer, however just a short walk from the main festival area you will find the newly remodeled Halifax Waterfront Food Court, where you can still listen in on the festival and enjoy a freshly-made poutine or Beavertail.
Many of the free concerts are sponsored by local citizen support, and with many volunteers on hand to help out, there was always a donation bucket close by to “Keep the Music Free”.
A favourite part of this festival is the opportunity to see local bands, orchestras and groups perform from areas that don’t always get to play in the bigger city, because the cost for those same groups to travel to events like this often gets in the way. Happily, Halifax, you showed amazing gratitude and those donation jars were never empty.
With another Jazz Festival in the books, the waterfront looks oddly empty today, save for a few brave volunteers with brooms cleaning up after a good dosing of maritime music festivities. If you missed it, don’t worry; they’ll be back again next year. Get your dancing shoes ready!
