Photo From Facebook/Heavyweights Brass Band

By Chris Brown

June 20-26

JazzFest not missing a beat in return to live shows

Jun 3, 2022 | 4:04 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Cancelled in 2020. Virtual in 2021. Medicine Hat JazzFest is back to the way it is meant to be in 2022.

“We’re so excited to be back in person,” says executive and artistic director Lyle Rebbeck. “We were very happy with our online festival but the whole point of live music and jazz is to be in front of people and this festival has always been about creating community and bringing people into proximity with one another and bringing these great artists to town as well. So we’re really, really excited to be back with a live and in-person festival this year.”

This year’s Medicine Hat JazzFest is June 20-26. Knowing this year’s festival would be live, organizers have spent a lot of time in the past 12 months figuring out the comfort level of the audience on both a health and financial perspective.

All shows are planned for outdoors on the Esplanade terrace, special seating sections at each show will have increased physical distancing and a full 24-hour refund policy has been created. Rebbeck says the full festival pass is $160 for $350 worth of tickets and daily combo passes offer great savings.

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“It’s still great high-quality jazz but it’s accessible, it’s toe-tapping … everything we’ve done is to try to create an environment where people can just relax and enjoy themselves,” he says.

There are two highlights that Rebbeck says shouldn’t be missed.

“I would say to experience this beautiful terrace on top of the Esplanade,” he says first. “If you haven’t been there the setting is gorgeous, it overlooks the South Saskatchewan River. Our shows are in the evening so the sun will set and we’ve got bands everywhere from the Netherlands to Calgary going to be entertaining there.”

“And then if you haven’t been out to the airport hangar this is definitely the year to go with a great love and peace Latin band from Calgary led by Esteban Herrera. It’s an incredible setting, a beautiful building and it’s fun. It’s a time to dance and relax, be as close or as far away from people as you want to be and experience JazzFest. We’re back and we’re live.”

Speaking of performers, Rebbeck says they’re all headliners but singles out The Heavyweights Brass Band as a fun, infectious band, so good that “you just can’t sit still while they play.”

Rebbeck says that over the years JazzFest has woven itself into the fabric of Medicine Hat. It starts with the music but it’s also about spending time with each other.

“Whether it’s sitting on a patio, whether it’s sitting in one of our club settings whether it’s a dance party. It’s about community. It’s about an opportunity to get together and have fun together,” he says.

The full lineup, ticket info and much more is available at medicinehatjazzfest.com.