Born in 1981, the Merimbula Jazz Festival is the longest running jazz festival in Australia. Once popular all over Australia, there are now very few of these festivals left. The Merimbula Jazz Festival Committee is dedicated to ensuring the longevity of this festival to ensure that jazz lives on for the coming generations.
The Merimbula Jazz Festival gives jazz lovers the chance to see, hear and often socialise with musicians from all across Australia. Some people travel the country supporting their favourite sports teams. A lot of the people you’ll meet in Merimbula over the June long weekend travel the country for jazz! They know it’s the seaside town where you’re guaranteed to hear musicians from Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and many places in between.
The Merimbula Jazz Festival gives musicians young and old, experienced and starting out, the chance to come together, play music and socialise together. One of the downsides of being a muso is that you often miss out on other muso’s gigs. At home you rarely get to play with musos from different states either. Solution: come to the Merimbula Jazz Festival!
Planning your first visit/performance? Please note that we do not pay bands to play. Nor do we pay for travel and accommodation. Bands register for free. Musicians pay a small registration fee. In return we provide some food/drink vouchers. A disbursement is paid back to the musicians who performed if the festival makes a profit.