(June) The currents of jazz run strong in Denton, TX; it is the home of one of the nation’s most renowned jazz education programs, at the University of North Texas. The abundance of jazz talent coming up in Denton led to the founding of the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival in 1980. Since then the Festival has featured the best (if not all) of UNT’s many talented students, and brought many important national performers to town as well.
DAJF is an outdoor festival, held at the Quakertown Park (near Denton’s Civic Center) over two and a half days in late April. Since this is a general admission event, attendees are recommended to bring lawn chairs and blankets, though private coolers are not allowed in the performance areas.
The event is truly a multi-arts experience: in addition to seven stages of live music, the Festival offers an array of arts and crafts activities and vendors, children’s activities and games, plus concessions, including food and beverages. Proceeds from the concessions go to support Denton’s local artistic community, demonstrating the dedication the community has to music and the arts.
Denton Arts and Jazz Festival (Denton, TX) Information
- Public Transportation: Poor
- Handicapped Accessibility: Good
- Performances/Programs: Over 170 performances programmed over three days at seven different stage locations
- Admission: Free and open to the public.
