Successful 52nd INTERNATIONAL DIXIELAND FESTIVAL

• Organizers count around 340,000 visitors over eight festival days
• Above all, the “Mama Shakers” brought a breath of fresh air to the world’s largest and oldest festival for traditional jazz
• Financial worries cloud the outlook for next year

On Sunday, 19 May 2024, the 52nd INTERNATIONAL DIXIELAND FESTIVAL came to an end. It once again made clear that a generational shift is currently taking place in the traditional jazz scene. For that reason, the SFV festival organizers had once again invited excellent young bands that can more than hold their own alongside the “old hands” and thrilled the audience to no end. Above all, the Mama Shakers from France could rejoice in standing ovations and cries of “encore”
wherever they played. The Paris-based band led by Swedish frontwoman Angela Strandberg unquestionably left its mark on the festival with its energetic interpretation of 1920s hot jazz. But bands such as the internationally staffed Jungle Jazz Band (Berlin) and The OhnO! Jazzband (Netherlands) also deserve mention here.

By the final day, the organizers had counted around 340,000 visitors over the festival’s eight days. More than 250 hours of music were heard at over 40 events, including 110 hours free of admission charge — not to mention the countless spontaneous musical contributions at just about every corner in the city center. Dresden welcomed 38 bands and soloists from ten countries. At the world’s largest and oldest music festival for traditional jazz, they all radiated pure joie de vivre.

to the photo retrospective: 52nd INTERNATIONAL DIXIELAND FESTIVAL