Celebrate Dizzy Gillespie at the 18th Annual SC Jazz Festival

Dizzy Gillespie's hometown of Cheraw, SC ushers in its 18th year of the South Carolina Jazz Festival October 19-22 with four days of great jazz and exciting activities. The weekend, which coincides with the 106th anniversary of Gillespie's birth, will showcase the unique bond Gillespie shared with his South Carolina roots and jazz.

A wide variety of free events and two ticketed concerts are scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 19-21. This year's festival will culminate on Sunday, October 22, with a Free Jazz concert at St. David’s Episcopal Church of Cheraw.

Over 25 Jazz performances are scheduled during the festival that includes in-school performances. The concerts will feature regional musicians from both North and South Carolina and beyond. The festival kicks off with a free concert on Thursday, October 19th at the Dizzy Gillespie Homesite Park featuring the Soda City Jazz Band.

Featured artist for the ticketed Friday, October 20 evening performance at the Theatre on the Green will be Charleston SC Trumpet Musician and 2-time Grammy Winner Charlton Singleton and the Bee Hive Jazz Orchestra. Grammy winner and NOLA trumpeter Ashlin Parker and the SC Jazz Festival Trumpet Mafia will perform at the Theatre on the Green on Saturday evening, October 21. Tickets for both evening concerts are available at www.scjazzfestvial.com

Weekend activities include free performances at Cheraw’s Centennial Park featuring the 208th Army Jazz Band, a Be-bop parade, afternoon jazz and evening jazz crawls. Music will be presented at the Gillespie family’s home church, Wesley United Methodist on Saturday, the 21st. Art abounds during the weekend with Art on Town Green, photo exhibit, Sweetgrass Basket talk, and the festival’s 14th Italian Madonnari Chalk Competition. Attendees can enjoy a self-guided Historic Cheraw Cell Phone Tour to over 25 points of interest, including Dizzy Gillespie related sites.

The Weekend ticket Package for both Theatre on the Green concerts

is $50.00 per person. A Ticket for a single concert is $30.For more information call 843.537.8420 x12 or visit www.scjazzfestival.com.

We hope to see you there!