Savannah Jazz Festival

Why a City of 150,000 Has a Jazz Festival This Old

Savannah’s claim on jazz is older than the festival by a long way. Joe “King” Oliver, the cornetist who mentored Louis Armstrong, spent his final years here. Johnny Mercer grew up a few blocks from Forsyth Park and went on to write the words to “Moon River” and more than a thousand other songs. James Moody, Ben Tucker, Irene Reid, Ben Riley and Sahib Shihab all carry a Savannah connection. In the 1920s and 1930s the clubs along West Broad Street, now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, made the city a stop on the touring circuit, and the Tybrisa Pavilion on Tybee Island drew the big bands of the day out to the beach.

The festival itself grew out of that history. In 1979 a group of musicians and enthusiasts, among them bassist Ben Tucker and trombonist Teddy Adams, formed the Telfair Jazz Society. It became the Coastal Jazz Association in 1981, and the first Savannah Jazz Festival was held at Grayson Stadium on October 1, 1983. Tucker wanted a way for people to hear the music live and learn something about it at the same time. More than four decades later, the organization now goes by Savannah Jazz, runs the Savannah Jazz Hall of Fame, leads the Savannah Jazz Orchestra, and still refuses to charge for a ticket to the park.

That is what makes this festival different from the larger ones. There is no wristband and no VIP line to the stage. The lawn belongs to whoever arrives first with a blanket.

Start With the Exhibit, Then Go Hear the Music

If you have a morning to spare, the Savannah Jazz History & Hall of Fame Exhibit at the Savannah History Museum is the best possible warm-up for the weekend. It sits at 303 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, open seven days a week from 9 am to 4 pm, and tells the story from King Oliver to the present with artifacts that include Ben Tucker’s bass and Johnny Mercer’s Oscar for “Moon River.” Spend an hour there on Saturday morning and the names on the afternoon program, particularly the Savannah Jazz Hall of Fame Band, will mean a good deal more.

How to Do a Day in Forsyth Park

The festival has been running in Forsyth Park for long enough that the rhythm of the day is well established. A few things worth knowing:

• Bring your own seating. Lawn chairs, blankets and coolers are all permitted. Tents and beach umbrellas are allowed, but the festival asks you to set them up along the edge of the park so they do not block the view from the lawn.
• Arrive early for the evening sets. The lawn fills well before the headliners. The Saturday program starts in the afternoon, and staking out a spot early and staying through the last set is the classic way to do it.
• Bring cash. There is no ATM in the park. Food trucks and vendors will be selling, and beer, wine and soft drinks are available for purchase. No grills or open flames of your own.
• Stay off the barricades. Standing at the front of the stage blocks everyone seated behind you. The festival is polite about it, but firm.
• The Patron’s Tent. The one paid option is the festival’s Patron’s Tent, available by separate ticket on the Forsyth Park evenings. It offers covered seating with a clear view of the stage, dining tables, an open bar and light hors d’oeuvres. Capacity is limited, so book it when you book your room.
• Weather. Rain does not stop the festival. If there is lightning or thunder, the program moves to Trustees Theater at 216 East Broughton Street, a short walk north of the park through the squares. The festival posts its park guidelines and weather plan each year.
• Leave the car. The streets around Forsyth Park are busy on festival evenings, and the whole point of staying in the Historic District is that you never need to drive. From the two inns below, the walk to the park is shorter than the wait at any rideshare pickup.

This Year’s Lineup: The 2026 Festival

The 45th Savannah Jazz Festival runs Friday, September 18 through Sunday, September 20, 2026, and is dedicated to Bob Faircloth, a longtime patron of the arts in Savannah, in honor of his 90th birthday. Organizers expect more than 50,000 people over the weekend. The Friday headliner was chosen with Faircloth’s love of big band jazz in mind.

Friday, September 18, Forsyth Park

• 6:30 pm: EG Kight, the Georgia blues singer and songwriter, opens the weekend.
• 7:50 pm: Gino Castillo and the Latin Cowboys.
• 9:10 pm: The Joe Gransden Big Band closes the night. Gransden is a regular at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Saturday, September 19, Forsyth Park

• 3:00 pm: University of North Florida Jazz Ensemble.
• 4:10 pm: Savannah Jazz Hall of Fame Band, performing a tribute to Bob Faircloth.
• 5:30 pm: The Brian Miller Band, led by the saxophonist.
• 6:50 pm: The Storyville Stompers, New Orleans brass band style.
• 8:10 pm: Jane Monheit with the Savannah Jazz Orchestra.
• 9:30 pm: Huntertones, a horn-driven band that moves between jazz, soul, funk and R&B, close the park program.

Sunday, September 20, District Live at Plant Riverside

• 2:00 pm: School Band Day, where student ensembles from across the region take the stage. It is the festival’s traditional send-off, and a good reason to end your weekend on River Street.

Set times are taken from the festival’s published lineup at the time of writing and can shift. Always check the current schedule on savannahjazz.org before you head out.

Where to Stay: Two Inns Within a Five-Minute Walk of the Park

Most Savannah visitors book by neighborhood without realizing how much it changes the trip. For the Jazz Festival, the neighborhood that matters is the South Historic District around Forsyth Park, and two of our four inns sit right in it. Both are adults-only, both include a full day of hosted food and drink, and both are close enough that you can go back to your room between sets and still be on the lawn for the headliner. Here is how they differ.

The Gastonian, 220 East Gaston Street

The Gastonian stands on Gaston Street, the northern boundary of Forsyth Park, a two-block walk from the park itself. It is a pair of white stuccoed mansions built in 1868 and joined today by a wooden walkway over a formal garden, run as a single 17-room luxury inn with individually named rooms, working fireplaces and claw-foot soaking tubs. Continental breakfast with a daily chef’s special made to order runs from 7:30 to 10 am, wine and hors d’oeuvres from 5 to 6:30 pm, and desserts, coffee and cordials from 8 to 10 pm, so you can walk back between sets and out again for the headliner. Adults-only, no pets. This is the choice for a grand, secluded mansion stay in the residential streets around the park.

Eliza Thompson House, 5 West Jones Street

Four blocks north of the park on brick-paved Jones Street, Eliza Thompson House was the first house built on the street, in 1847. Today it is a 25-room adults-only bed and breakfast across a main house and carriage house, with a private courtyard garden and fountain at its center. Breakfast runs from 8 to 10 am with grits, casseroles and a proper Southern spread, wine and cheese from 5 to 6:30 pm, and desserts and coffee from 8 to 10 pm. The courtyard is where a festival night ends: five minutes from the lawn and quiet enough to hear the fountain. Adults-only, no pets. Parking is on metered city streets, with passes provided that cover the meters. This is the choice for an intimate, romantic stay centered on Jones Street.

Choosing Between Them

Pick The Gastonian for the grander mansion experience and the shortest walk to the park. Pick Eliza Thompson House for a more intimate, romantic stay built around Jones Street and its courtyard. Either way you will walk to every set. If the festival is one part of a wider Savannah trip, or you are travelling with children or a dog, our other two inns come into their own.

Kehoe House, Columbia Square

Kehoe House, an 1892 mansion on Columbia Square, is the collection’s romantic boutique inn and the most central of the four, in the flow of the Historic District between the river and the park. Adults-only, with a chef’s breakfast delivered to your room and parking included. It is the choice if you want the festival to sit inside a weekend of restaurants, squares and evening walks close to your door.

East Bay Inn, 225 East Bay Street

East Bay Inn is the collection’s historic hotel, a 28-room 1852 building on Bay Street directly across from the Riverwalk and one street above River Street. It is the only one of the four that welcomes both children and pets, with parking included in the amenity fee, which makes it the natural base for anyone travelling with a family.

That matters more on the Sunday. School Band Day at District Live draws school and university ensembles from beyond the city as well as Savannah’s own. In recent years the program has included bands from Hilton Head, across the state line, and from Atlanta, and behind every student on that stage is a family that needs somewhere to stay. From East Bay Inn, District Live is a straight walk west along the riverfront, and River Street, City Market and Broughton Street are all on the way back.

A Festival Weekend, Mapped Out

Friday. Arrive by mid-afternoon and settle in. Walk the squares south from Chippewa to Monterey as the light goes, cross Gaston Street into the park, and be on the lawn before the first set. The Friday headliner usually finishes a little after ten. Walk home.

Saturday. Breakfast at the inn, then the Jazz History & Hall of Fame Exhibit on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Lunch on Bull Street on the way back. Take a chair to the park for the afternoon start and stay through the Hall of Fame Band. Wine hour at the inn from five, then back to the lawn for the evening headliners. Desserts and cordials are still on when you return.

Sunday. A slow breakfast, then a last circuit of the park while it is quiet, or a taxi out to Bonaventure Cemetery for an hour among the live oaks. Be at District Live, at the west end of River Street, in the early afternoon for School Band Day, which is the festival at its most Savannah: local, unpolished and full of families cheering for a trombone section. From there the river, Broughton Street and an early dinner are all on foot.

Booking for the Festival

The Jazz Festival draws a loyal crowd that returns every year, and the small inns within walking distance of Forsyth Park fill early once the dates are announced. All four inns take reservations directly on their own websites, and the reservations desks at each are glad to talk through individual rooms by phone.

• Book The Gastonian
• Book Eliza Thompson House
• Book Kehoe House
• Book East Bay Inn

For everything else about the weekend, from a walking route through the squares to which ghost tour to book on the one night you are not in the park, start with our first-timer’s guide to Savannah and our where to stay in Savannah overview.

Photo Credit: Visit Savannah