The Ypsilanti Jazz Festival returns to Riverside Park for its 2023 season, starting Saturday, July 1.
The festival will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. every Saturday through Aug. 5. Guests can bring their own chairs and enjoy live music performances from different jazz artists in the area.
Vendors at the festival will provide food, merchandise, and activities for all ages. All shows are family-friendly and free, though donations are welcomed.
Each Saturday night will have its own theme. On July 1, audiences can experience “Girl Power Night” with performances by Lady Sunshine and the X-Band.
Lady Sunshine and the X-Band are Ypsilanti locals and have been together for 29 years. They will be performing original songs and covers, including Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” as a tribute to Aretha Franklin.
The night will be hosted by the event's founder, Taryn Willis, and community partner Cherisa Allen. All hosts and performers at the festival are Ypsilanti locals. Willis has had much inspiration for the Ypsilanti Jazz Festival, including Ypsilanti’s former festival Ypsi Fest, formerly known as Ypsilanti Heritage Festival.
“I grew up in Ypsilanti,” Willis said. “My mother was a vice president at Eastern for many years and back in the day, WEMU would have jazz tents in the middle of the Heritage Festival, and it was just a great time and a great family-friendly event.”
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The event was founded in 2022 by Taryn Willis and her husband, Travis Willis, and is funded by sponsors such as Ypsilanti-based businesses and donors. The festival also raises money for the Creative Arts Scholarship provided by Allen’s nonprofit group Women and Men Working For Change.
“We're not going to come and have like this big production,” Willis said. “We want it to be a low-cost concert because that money can be used for other goals such as supporting our community organizations.”
Those interested can find the full list of artists on the YpsiReal online calendar Or, herevisit the Ypsilanti Jazz Festival’s Facebook page.
