What had been promoted as a groundbreaking jazz festival for Los Angeles is now facing an uncertain future after organizers called it off just hours before it was set to begin Friday.
The large-scale music event, expected to feature major artists including John Legend and Janelle Monáe, was slated to open August 7 in Leimert Park. Programming was also planned across Southern California over the following two weeks, including free concerts in public parks throughout Los Angeles.
In a statement issued late Friday, Martin Ludlow, founder and CEO of the LA Jazz Festival, said organizers had made the difficult choice to postpone the entire festival.
“Due to significant, unanticipated last-minute public safety and municipal costs associated with the final permitting of the On The Beach Festival, we have reached the decision to unfortunately postpone this year’s inaugural LA Jazz Festival,” Ludlow told the LA Times.
“Although this decision was an extremely difficult one to reach, our commitment to the audiences and artists participating in the festival is to have a first-class experience worthy of the great legacy of Jazz and our great city.”
“We were encouraged by the enthusiastic support of the artists on the bill, the fans and our sponsors for this inaugural event, and we look forward to presenting all of the components of this incredible cultural opportunity for Los Angeles and the world in 2027 and beyond,” it added.
Ticket holders for the various LA Jazz Festival events are expected to receive refunds within 30 days.
“We apologize deeply for this situation and vow to make this right over time,” Ludlow said.
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Hours before a message on the website page for the festival said “Aug. 22-23. Updated event info coming soon.” No other information or explanation was provided.
Dozens of performers who were booked were notified this week the event was no longer happening, citing production challenges and permitting issues they hadn’t expected, KTLA 5 reported.
The cancellation included the Jazz After Dark and the Caribbean Street Carnival, which “pays homage to the rhythms which shaped the DNA of early jazz in New Orleans,” Discover Los Angeles announced.
Organizers previously said the plan was to combine the various events—previously planned for the final weekend of the two-week long festival—into one. The only part of the festival that was scheduled to still happen was “Jazz on the Beach” taking place at Dockweiler Beach.
Some of the big names who were previously announced as performing at the closing festival event include Legend, Parliament Funkadelic with George Clinton, Charlie Wilson, and dozens more.
Ludlow earlier this year announced some of the headliners at the festival which was labeled the “largest Black-owned jazz festival ever,” CBS LA reported.
Ludlow announced the festival near “The inkwell” at Santa Monica beach, a once-segregated portion of LA county.
The Post has reached out to organizers for more information.
