Pori International Jazz Festival

Pori International Jazz Festival

Mid-July

Pori, Finland, is 150 miles northwest of Helsinki—far enough north to guarantee 19 hours of daylight during the summer jazz festival that has been held there since 1966. It offers up to 10 major concerts and numerous smaller concerts as well as jam sessions, films, a children's program, and many informal musical events in the city's cafes, restaurants, jazz clubs, and art galleries. All styles of jazz—from traditional to contemporary, dixieland, blues, and swing—are represented. Performers at past festivals have included Herbie Hancock, Chuck Mangione, Ornette Coleman, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, and B.B. King as well as Scandinavian jazz artists. The major concerts are held in an outdoor amphitheater on Kirjurinluoto Island, a natural park in the heart of the city. There are also lectures, films, and exhibitions on jazz and its influence.

CONTACTS:
Pori Jazz Office
Pori Jazz 66 ry, Pohjoisranta 11 D
Pori, 28100 Finland
358-2-6262-200; fax: 358-2-6262-225
www.porijazz.fi

SOURCES:
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 77
MusFestEurBrit-1980, p. 69