Baltimore is returning to the Jazz Age in a big way.
The PAETEC Jazz Festival will make its premiere in Charm City beginning Aug. 9 at venues around the Inner Harbor.
The three-day festival, the brainchild of PAETEC Communications Inc. in Rochester, N.Y., is designed to attract thousands of music lovers to the city, Mayor Sheila Dixon said Wednesday morning during a news conference announcing the event.
“Baltimore has a rich history of jazz, and I can think of no better place than [here] to honor and celebrate the legacy of jazz,” Dixon said.
The festival is produced by John Nugent, the president and chief executive officer of NY JAM Inc., and Marc Iacona, executive director and co-producer of the Rochester International Jazz Festival.
Inspired by the Rochester Jazz Festival in New York and the Stockholm Jazz Festival in Sweden, which collectively attracted more than125,000 people in 2006, the PAETEC Jazz Festival will offer free and ticketed events during its three-day run.
Confirmed venues include Pier Six and Power Plant Live! Organizers also hope to expand the festival to area clubs as soon as acts are booked.
Dixon said she has high hopes for both the economic and social impact the festival will have on the city.
“This is an exciting event that will be attracting a lot of people to Baltimore,” she said. “We?re hoping to exceed Rochester?s $10 million, but we?ll see at a later date.”
Baltimore native Arunas Chesonis, chairman and CEO of PAETEC Communications, said the event is just the beginning.
“We?re starting with three days here,” he said. “Hopefully at some point we will see a couple weeks of jazz here in Baltimore City.”
After traveling to several East Coast cities, “one thing we kept coming back to was Baltimore,” Iacona said. “It was not a hard decision.”
Although he was unable to confirm definite musical performances, Nugent promised some “very, very exciting acts.” He said a complete lineup will be announced in May.
“We can?t bring the warm weather here from Rochester,” Iacona said. “But we can bring the passion, energy and professionalism that?s needed to make a great festival happen.”
