Swanage’s much loved Jazz Festival has unveiled a strong programme for summer 2026 after supporters helped rescue the event from the brink of disaster.
The 35th festival was under a very real threat of cancellation after making losses in 2025, before an urgent public appeal for £25,000 secured its future.
Swanage Jazz Festival made a loss of £15,000 at the 2025 event after selling fewer stroller tickets than expected
Free entry for children
Organisers said the festival made a loss of around £15,000 last summer after selling 150 fewer weekend stroller tickets than expected, forcing them to take short term loans of £25,000 to pay all of the performers.
And although the appeal hit its target in just a matter of weeks in autumn 2025, festival director Paul Kelly said that the three day weekend event in July 2026 needs to be well supported to prevent the same thing happening again.
A strong lineup of more than 30 well known British jazz artists has been secured for the festival, at Sandpit Field and The Mowlem, from Friday 10th July to Sunday 12th July 2026.
It includes performances from the Nigel Price Trio and the Alan Barnes Quartet, as well as a session by leading American saxophonist Greg Abate.
And in an attempt to get more people through the door and to introduce more young people to jazz, there will be free entry for school age children and cut price tickets for those under 25 years old.
Alex Clarke will bring her quartet to the 2026 festival as organisers look to appeal to a younger audience
“Situation had been very serious”
Paul Kelly said:
“It’s great to be able to offer another eclectic Festival programme that offers great choice and value for money, especially after the financial challenges we encountered last year.
“To try and broaden our audience, we are offering free admission to those under 16 years old accompanied by an adult, and we also have a number of half priced day tickets for under 25s on offer.
“The situation after last summer had been very serious. If we hadn’t been able to repay the loans we secured by Christmas, the company that runs the festival would likely have become insolvent and we wouldn’t have been able to stage a festival this year.
“We were amazed by the generosity of our supporters. It’s great to know the festival is so well loved and valued, and we’re very much looking forward to bringing more top quality jazz groups to Swanage for another year.”
The Kim Cypher Band will bring its award winning energy to the opening night
Major jazz anniversaries
Other highlights for July 2026 will include Steely Jazz, the John Etheridge and Christian Garrick Duo, the Kim Cypher Band, and singer Jo Harrop with her trio.
Several performances will celebrate major jazz anniversaries in 2026, led by a centenary tribute to Miles Davis which will feature the Steve Waterman Octet and Dorset trumpeter Andy Urquhart’s Electric Miles project.
The centenary of John Coltrane will be marked with a recreation of Coltrane and Hartman on Impulse, performed by saxophonist Mark Lockheart and vocalist Marvin Muoneke.
Meanwhile, British jazz legend Stan Tracey will be honoured when his son Clark Tracey performs the iconic Under Milk Wood suite with his sextet.
The Olivia Cuttill Quintet has been voted as one of the best emerging bands of the 2020s
Day long jazz improv workshop
Traditional New Orleans jazz will remain a staple of the weekend, returning to a marquee on Sandpit Field with bands including the Pete Allen Big Jazz Band, Riviera Ramblers and the New Orleans Jazz Bandits.
And in a new initiative for 2026, the festival will host a day long jazz improvisation workshop led by saxophonist Simon Allen.
The session, open to musicians of any instrument of Grade 4 standard and above, will take place on Friday 10th July, 2026.
The usual free festival fringe, stretch tent programme and Sunday church service are in development, with further announcements to follow.
The Pete Roth Trio, with Bill Bruford on drums, take contemporary jazz to a new level by blending jazz with funk, rock, and classical music
Mercury Prize nominee
There will also be a new partnership with Poole promoters SoundCellar, aiming to strengthen the festival’s contemporary programme.
Performances will include a collaboration between Laura Jurd and Rob Luft, alongside sets from pianist Ivo Neame, bassist Al Swainger and the Pete Roth Trio featuring drummer Bill Bruford.
The contemporary programme is bolstered by The Pete Roth Trio with noted drummer Bill Bruford, Yetii, a further performance by Rob Luft with his own quartet and by pianist and Mercury Prize nominee Joe Webb and his trio.
Since taking over the event in 2019, the current organisers have hosted five festivals featuring around 300 bands and nearly 1,700 musicians, drawing an estimated 41,000 visitors to Swanage.
The Joe Webb Trio was Mercury Prize nominated in 2025 and plays at Swanage on the closing day
Ticket prices for July 2026:
- Weekend Stroller £160
- Friday Stroller £60
- Saturday Stroller £95
- Sunday Stroller £95
- Single concert tickets £24
- Under 16s will go free if accompanied by an adult with ticket
- Under 25s will receive 50 percent off Day Stroller prices
There will also be a 10 percent discount for BH19 residents, for tickets booked on the website. Proof of post code will be needed when the wristband is collected.
Bristol based acoustic jazz trio Yetii has been praised for original compositions and stunning improvisation
Further information
- The full line up of acts for 2026 will be on the Swanage Jazz Festival website
