Part 4 – The years 2001 to 2010
Dresden All Stars open a new festival decade
After the “Festival Grandioso 2000,” another decade of vibrant momentum began for the INTERNATIONAL DIXIELAND FESTIVAL Dresden. The Dresden All Stars opened the festival at the Staatsschauspielhaus and made it clear with stylishly interpreted traditional numbers that the combination of Dresden class, musical experience and festival tradition continued to form the foundation of this music festival.
Well-known names from the Dresden scene such as Klaus-Georg Eulitz, Frank Geipel, Klaus Schumann, Frank Bartsch, Rüdiger Krause, Tom Götze and Günter Hörig stood as representatives of a generation of musicians who had shaped the festival's profile over many years. Thus, the festival's fourth decade began as ceremoniously as it did confidently.
New venues and fresh formats
With the Cluskey Hopkins Jazzband from Ireland, a group from the “Emerald Isle” finally came to Saxony and brought fresh energy to the program with their “Guinness Jazzshow.” At the same time, “Dixie on Campus” recalled the festival's early roots and turned the Technical University into a stage for ragtime, Dixieland, blues, boogie-woogie and swing with concerts in lecture halls and foyers.
The Oldtime Jazz Tram Fête also proved to be a particularly imaginative addition to the festival program. The historic Hechtwagen from 1931 and other streetcars were turned into rolling stages on which bands from several countries performed. The audience reacted with enthusiasm – and the ride through Dresden became one of those program highlights people wanted to experience again immediately.
Half a million visitors – and the shadow of the flood
The following year, the festival initially seemed to leave nothing to be desired. Around half a million Dixieland fans came to Dresden to enjoy concerts, parades and open-air events. But in 2002, the theme of water took on a deeply unsettling new dimension. Even as umbrellas dominated the scene at the festival events, no one suspected how severely the flood disaster would strike the city – and the festival – just a few months later.
The damage to venues, rehearsal rooms, instrument storage areas, and basements left both direct and indirect traces. The festival had to learn how vulnerable even a cultural structure built up over decades can be. Yet the response was not resignation, but the determination to mobilize new resources.
“Musical Air Freight” and new highlights in the program
With Dresden Airport, the festival gained a spectacular new venue. Under the title “Blues, Boogie & Swing,” a kind of musical air freight unfolded there across various levels and escalators, which proved so popular with audiences that it became the “Swinging Airport” in the years that followed. This combination of an unusual setting and vibrant music brought the festival added luster.
At the same time, programs such as Dixie Night, Boogie-Woogie Express, Dixie Party, Dixie Pub, Dixie Varieté, and gospel concerts broadened the festival’s diversity. International guests such as the Society Syncopaters, Rod Mason’s Hot Five, Lyzzi Melon, Thomas Stelzer, and Errol Dixon added distinctive color to the program. The festival remained true to its roots while continually reinventing itself.
Benefit concert brought aid for New Orleans
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans hard in 2005, Dresden responded with great solidarity as well. The festival management initiated a benefit concert involving numerous musicians. With 1,000 guests and 100 musicians, the evening became a small festival in its own right and at the same time a visible sign of solidarity with the birthplace of jazz.
The donation total of 10,000 euros was later handed over as assistance for affected students at the University of Southern Mississippi. In doing so, the INTERNATIONALE DIXIELAND FESTIVAL Dresden showed that jazz here was understood not only as music, but also as responsibility lived out in practice.
In brass rhythm around the Frauenkirche
Another highlight was the first Dresden brass-band parade around the rebuilt Frauenkirche. Ensembles from Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands marched through the city center under the motto “Dresden marches for New Orleans” and were enthusiastically greeted by thousands. The parade united music, urban space, and international solidarity in a way that gave the festival a new face.
At the same time, it became clear how deeply the festival had by then become intertwined with Dresden’s landmark sites. The Frauenkirche, the Neumarkt, and the Elbe were not merely backdrops, but active resonance spaces for this music festival.
Kulturpalast closed — Sarrasani saves the festival
A few weeks before one of the following festival editions, the organizers were hit by a shock: the Kulturpalast, the festival’s most important venue, was closed overnight. Large-scale events suddenly found themselves without a hall, no alternatives were in sight, and the future of the ongoing planning seemed seriously threatened.
Yet once again, the festival team proved its improvisational skill and persistence. After various alternative venues had canceled, the Sarrasani vaudeville theater stepped in. The large gala tent became a lifesaver in an emergency, “Dixieland under the Big Top” was revived, and the audience responded with great enthusiasm. A crisis turned into an emotional success.
Renewal and New Generations
Toward the end of the decade, attention increasingly turned to the future. Joachim Schlese spoke openly about involving younger musicians more closely and bringing fresh blood into the festival. The Blue Dragons Jazzband from Dresden, and later the Jazzbanausen from Chemnitz, stood as examples of this generational shift.
That was precisely the important message: the INTERNATIONAL DIXIELAND FESTIVAL Dresden did not want to become a museum piece, but to remain alive. Tradition was not to be preserved by freezing it, but by passing it on.
First-time parade across the Elbe to Königsufer
The 40th festival once again brought a festive, joyful масштаб to the streets of Dresden. Around 40 bands and soloists from a dozen countries across three continents performed and turned the city into one vast stage. With “Dixie-Fieber 40 Grad – und es tanzt die ganze Stadt,” this anniversary even received its own musical greeting from Dresden.
For the first time, the Oldtime Jazz closing parade crossed the Elbe to Königsufer. This opened up new spatial possibilities for the festival and, at the same time, provided an impressive setting for the final jam session. Thousands cheered the marching bands and their hundred hours of Dixieland. The decade ended with an unambiguous signal: On to the 50th INTERNATIONAL DIXIELAND FESTIVAL.