Isle of Bute Jazz Festival

One of the longest running Festivals in the jazz calendar, the Isle of Bute Jazz Festival is held annually over the May Day Bank holiday when it welcomes hundreds of jazz fans to our wee isle in the Firth of Clyde.

Bute lies approximately 35 miles west of Glasgow and is accessed via a regular 35 minute ferry crossing from Wemyss Bay which is easily reached by rail, with an hourly service from Glasgow Central station or by bus and car using the comprehensive road network in central Scotland.
A choice of good quality hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation is available to those wishing to stay for the whole of the four day event; equally our flexible ticketing policy combined with an intensive, quality concert schedule, makes the Festival an attractive option for the day tripper.

The Isle of Bute Jazz Festival began in 1988 and has been staged annually on the first weekend of May ever since – 2017 marks their 30th Festival. This year’s event will run from 28th April - 1st May 2017.

The first Festival in 1988 was a modest affair with only six bands, and the organisers held their breath to see if anyone would come to a small Scottish island with little tradition of jazz (although big dance bands certainly played regularly at Rothesay Pavilion in the 1950’s and 60’s). Happily enough fans turned up that first year to encourage another venture the following year, and the Festival has continued to grow in reputation and stature ever since.

Some very well known jazz names featured on the programme over the next few years – Acker Bilk, Monty Sunshine, Martin Taylor, Tommy Smith, Andy Sheppard, Carol Kidd, The Temperance 7, and The London Community Gospel Choir amongst others, and the Festival continues to attract top class UK and international bands in mainly the Traditional New Orleans idiom. The Festival is a great supporter of young musicians who feature prominently in the annual programme.