Enjoy Jazz
International Festival for Jazz and More
Heidelberg / Mannheim / Ludwigshafen

Every year over 60 concerts, master classes, matinees and parties takes place six weeks in October and November in the cities Heidelberg, Mannheim and Ludwigshafen. The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, one of Germany’s leading newspapers, describes it as one of the most comprehensive festivals in the world - “Not only the time frame but the artistic variance gave this festival its international reputation for being one of the highest artistic standard.”
International icons such as Charlie Haden, Brad Mehldau, Jan Garbarek, McCoy Tyner and Ornette Coleman have played in the varied venues of the so-called “Festivalregion”. Coleman won the 2007 Pulitzer Price for Music for his live recording from the Enjoy Jazz concert.   
Furthermore artists not immediately associated with jazz, such as Thievery Corporation, Bajofondo Tango Club or Nightmares on Wax, performed in the past years.
The title already suggests the festival’s central aim, namely to enjoy jazz. Therefore the festival takes its time and presents no more than one concert a night. It is however not restricted to the genre limits of jazz which are anyhow hard to define. Alternative musical influences are appreciated and integrated even more so.    
Innovation and openness are the two main pillars which gained the festival a well-respected status among critics in Germany and world-wide. Through perfection and a pioneering spirit, Enjoy Jazz gained increasing attention among the national media and became a unique event which managed to find its own special way in uniting tradition and cosmopolitanism.
The modern sponsoring concept plays an important role with regards to the success of Enjoy Jazz. Mainly sponsored by the regional private sector Enjoy Jazz is a beneficiary of the cultural engagement of the surrounding enterprises. Special mention goes to the main sponsor SAS, the BASF and the support of the Metropolregion and the Rhein-Neckar-Festivalregion, a body dedicated to the support of art festivals in the region.