Jazz-Espa festival
Jazz-Espa features twenty topical Finnish jazz acts in the heart of Helsinki from the 27th of July to the 7th of August. The upbeat festival period takes a breather on Sunday the 2nd of August with an urban mini-festival JazzPiknik at mbar’s terrace and on the Lasipalatsi square.
Last year’s Jazz-Espa was exceptionally only a week-long event with six live bands. The reason for the short lineup of 2014 was the big Jazz Finland showcase festival later that fall. This summer the full-sized Jazz-Espa is back, featuring 20 Finnish jazz acts on the Esplanadi Park Stage, opposite to the famous Kappeli restaurant. The two Espa weeks are set this year between July 27 and August 7.
Jazz-Espa has been an annual summer tradition since year 2000, and all of the top Finnish jazz musicians must have played there during these 16 years. Jazz-Espa got a side-festival, titled JazzPiknik in 2012. JazzPiknik takes place on the first Sunday of August, at the Lasipalatsi square and restaurant mbar’s terrace, just a stone’s throw away from Esplanadi Park. JazzPiknik is also dedicated to live jazz, but with a slightly looser genre definition.
The Finnish Jazz Federation welcomes you to enjoy the annual Jazz-Espa concert series at the Espa outdoor stage, in the heart of Helsinki. Free entry to all concerts!
Jazz-Espa 2015, July 27 – August 7
Espan lava (stage), Esplanade Park (Helsinki, Finland)
Free entrance. Concerts on weekdays at 4pm and 5.30pm, with the exception of Saturday, Aug 1 (see the full program).
Jazz-Espa is produced by the Finnish Jazz Federation and supported by the Finnish Music Foundation MES and the City of Helsinki Cultural Office
JazzPiknik, August 2, at 3.30pm – 1.30am
mbar, Lasipalatsi square
Free entrance. Age limit 20 at the mbar terrace after 6pm.
JazzPiknik is a co-production of the Finnish Jazz Federation and mbar. The event is supported by the the Finnish Music Foundation MES, the City of Helsinki and organized in co-operation with the Lasipalatsi Media Centre Ltd.
See the full programme on www.jazzespa.fi