Green light for jazz mile and parade
at the International Dixieland Festival 2024 in Dresden
On Tuesday evening (March 5, 2024), the Old Town district council unanimously voted to support the free "Dresden Jazz Mile" and "Dixieland Parade" at the International Dixieland Festival 2024 with a grant of 40,000 euros, thus preventing the cancellation of the extremely popular event formats, which are well known far beyond the city limits.
We sincerely thank everyone for the unanimous decision, which is both a clear statement and a strong commitment to preserving the most popular and well-known events of the world's largest and oldest festival for traditional jazz, and to its more than fifty-year tradition. Therefore, nothing stands in the way of holding the Jazz Mile and parade on a scale comparable to previous years.
The Saxon Festival Association (Sächsische Festival Vereinigung e.V.), as organizer of the "Dresden Jazz Mile" and "Dixieland Parade," now has €40,000 at its disposal from the Old Town District Advisory Board, €31,300 in institutional funding from the Dresden City Council's Office for Culture and Heritage Preservation, and further support from the Office for Economic Development. The expected proceeds from festival ticket sales will complete the financing.
The "Dresden Jazz Mile" and the "Dixieland Parade" attract up to 400,000 visitors annually from Dresden and across Germany and abroad to the INTERNATIONAL DIXIELAND FESTIVAL. For young and old, big and small, these events in Dresden's Old Town are an integral part of the festival experience. These two formats hold a top position not only for the many returning and new visitors but also within the international music scene. This is linked to a significant and positive image boost for Dresden. The fact that funding is now secured and that we do not have to cancel these two crucial, free components of the festival, as we had feared, is a great joy and relief for us as organizers.
Visitors to the Jazz Mile can look forward to six open-air stages this year – from Prager Straße via Dr.-Külz-Ring, the main stage on the Altmarkt, to the Piazza at Taschenberg, each with performances from Friday to Sunday. Due to other events taking place simultaneously in Dresden's city center, the Dixieland parade route on Pentecost Sunday will this year be a circuit around the Brühl Terrace.
