Now you has jazz jazz jazz jazz jazz

Well, sort of.

The 25th Beaches International Jazz Streetfest (aka Jazz Fest to most) is a bit of a misnomer. Most of the acts on the street aren't jazz at all, but despite that it's still one of my favourite street festivals of the summer.

The DC and I went Friday night. We got there before they closed Queen Street East to have dinner and to ensure a place to lock the bikes. When the street closes and the pedestrians flow in, it's every bike for itself.

We strolled a bit listening to some of the music, waiting to digest enough dinner that we could dive into the BeaverTails. I haven't had one of these since the last time I was in Ottawa. Bless the food trucks!


Then it was off to enjoy the music in earnest. There really was a mix of styles here -- Big Band, dixieland, funk, R&B, and er, whatever Soul Motivators was playing -- so if you didn't like one band, you could walk a block or two until you got to the next.



You might even run into some jazz!



You will certainly run into a lot of people!

What I like about this streetfest is that, despite the huge number of people and my intense dislike of crowds, it doesn't feel hideously crowded. Take note, Taste of the Danforth.

Sadly, they had run out of programs the night before (which, wuh?), so we didn't know that some acts (like Patrick Tevlin) were playing until we got there at the end of the set, and we missed some acts like KC Roberts and God Made Me Funky. But there was always something good to move on to.

Well, almost always.


I took a few extra pictures, which you can see by clicking on the title and scrolling to the picture shown in the thumbnail.

From Rambling Through Toronto