by the sea
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The Herne Bay Jazz and Swing Festival is a non-profit, yearly event, bringing the best of UK talent to venues across Herne Bay, Kent. Our seaside provides the backdrop for over 20 hours of top-level jazz performance for our local community and visitors; an opportunity to enjoy and explore this music without the usual expense. Since 2017, we have celebrated the best of live jazz and swing music on an annual basis with headliners including some of the top names in the industry (scroll down for list). Our stunning coastal setting provides the backdrop for top-calibre performances enjoyed by people from around the UK and abroad as well as numerous members of our local community.
With a strong emphasis on exploring this genre of music without the barriers of cost or travel, our 2023 program includes new and established performers across a wide range jazz styles, with free workshops for children and adults to explore their own creativity, offering our audiences the broadest selection possible, with an emphasis on inclusivity..
Led by artistic director Kai Hoffman and Broadreach Records, HBJSF is a project led in association with Ronnie Scott's Club, Herne Bay Pier Trust, Beach Creative Arts Centre and Baytastic. The festival has been put on with assistance from major sponsor Arts Council England Lottery Fund, as well as Kent County Council, the Herne Bay Festival Charity, Vivien of Holloway, Cabin FM, Community Ad Magazine, Music Bay, Goody Ales and more.
Broadreach Records has presented jazz and vintage music-based events for over a decade including the London Time Out Critic’s Choice club night ‘Live & Let Jive’ at Ronnie Scott’s from 2008-2015 (monthly) and on occasion from 2016 to present - called “London's coolest hepcat hangout” by The Stage, and featured in the Metro and Evening Standard Newspapers.
As a bandleader, our Festival director Kai Hoffman has organised performances, booked musicians and performed with her own band over 80 times at Ronnie Scott’s Club, Europe’s oldest jazz venue, as well as the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall, London Jazz Festival, the European Jazz Expo, the City of London Festival, Ealing Jazz Festival, Twinwood Festival etc. since 2001.
