Wigan International Jazz Festival

The Festival was formed in 1986 in response to the region’s growing audience for jazz and big band music created in part by the Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra.

Featuring many of the world’s finest jazz artists, many of iconic status, the event quickly a gained a reputation for being one of the finest jazz Festivals in Europe. Artists such as Freddie Hubbard, Horace Silver, Red Rodney Art Blakey, Diana Krall, Michael Brecker, Paquito D’Rivera, Maynard Ferguson, Phil Woods, Ray Brown, Bobby Shew and many more attracted capacity audiences and through the 1990’s it became a ‘must-attend’ event on the European Festival circuit.