Clarissa Street
Reunion

The nine-day Rochester Jazz Festival has been held annually in June since 2002, when it was founded by jazz musician John Nugent and Rochester native Marc Iacona. The festival facilitates more than 200 shows held in various venues across downtown Rochester and showcases local, national, and even international jazz performers. The first Rochester Jazz Festival, held in 2002, featured headliners Aretha Franklin, Dr. John, and Sonny Rollins and attracted more than 15,000 attendees. Since then, the festival’s popularity and national fame has grown exponentially: in 2018 more than 200,000 visitors came from around the world to hear jazz in Rochester. The Rochester Jazz Festival fittingly honors a century-old tradition and deep-seated local love for jazz. Learn more about the Rochester International Jazz Festival here.