Indy Jazz Fest

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The Indy Jazz Fest in Indianapolis, Indiana, first took place from June 17-20, 1999. It was created by a consortium of Downtown hospitality, civic and business interests as a way to spotlight Indianapolis' jazz heritage through an annual event. The hope was to have a tourist weekend event that was arts-related, as opposed to the major famous auto racing events held each year in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis 500, the Brickyard 400 and the US Grand Prix.

A planning committee was formed by these business interests, and it was led by local event planner Maribeth Smith & Associates. As planning progressed a director was appointed who ran the day-to-day operations and booked all the talent for the event. It was determined the event would be a multi-day, multi-venue festival, culminating in a multi-stage outdoor event called the Bank One Jazz & Roots Fair at Downtown Indianapolis' White River State Park. A $2 million budget was used to stage the event, which included artists such as BB King, Isaac Hayes, Chaka Khan, Sonny Rollins, Los Lobos, Robert Cray, Branford Marsalis, George Benson, Chris Isaak, Freddie Hubbard and many others. A spotlight on local jazz legends was called Indiana Avenue Revisited, including Slide Hampton, David Baker, Buddy Montgomery, Jimmy Coe, and many others.

According to the Indy Jazz Fest [1] website and numerous published reports, the inaugural event attracted over 55,000 people, including attendees from 35 states and seven countries.

Indy Jazz Fest became a 501(c)(3) organization and began formulating and implementing educational outreach initiatives throughout Indianapolis Public Schools leading up to the second-annual festival. Children from all walks of life were exposed to jazz and other musical genres because of Indy Jazz Fest's work in the community. The second festival saw names like Al Green, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Booker T and the MG's, Jonny Lang, Shemekia Copeland, The Yellowjackets, Cassandra Wilson, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and many more. The festival did have to cancel the first night due to an unseasonable downpour, and heavy rains off and on throughout the weekend caused a $750,000 budget shortfall and the organization accumulated a large amount of debt as a result.