Bansko Events

Every year, since 1997, Bansko will be pleased to gather you in August to see you involved one more time into the magic, called jazz. This year Bansko Jazz Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary, and we all together will turn this event into a week-long feast of music in which performers of 15 countries from 3 continents will take part. This year there will be exceptionally rich program, especially arranged for you. The atmosphere on the first day of the Bansko Jazz Festival will be warmed up by the holder of the best young jazz performer award in France Nico Wayne Toussaint and his band. Also, especially for the opening, the Big Band of the Bulgarian National Radio will be invited, together with Denise Jannah - the most popular name of the Dutch jazz as solist. The legend of the Bulgarian Jazz Milcho Leviev is also invited. He will be accompanying to the phenomenal Greek singer Viki Almazidu, and the Greek presence will be enhanced by the guitarist Kostas Maginas who, together with the young trumpeter Michael Yosifov, will play to the fine vocalist Peter Salchev.

On the next 5 days of the festival you will be able to see the boogie-woogie fury Christoph "Boogie Wolf" Steinbach from Austria, the fire flamenco group El Macareno from Spain, the Czech guitar star Pavel Ryba, the melodic gipsy jazz quartet of Francesco Buzzurro from Italy as well as the Polish trio of Wlodek Pawlik. Then the audience will again enjoy Djabe, the Hungarian number one fusion formation. You will also be able to see two of the greatest names of the Bulgarian music - Vasil Petrov, accompanied by Angel Zaberski, in duo with Maria Taneva and Kalin Veliov with his band. You can see the favorites of the audience - the Egyptian band, led by the virtuoso percussionist Yehya Khalil, who several years in a row have roused the town square to absolute frenzy.

Among the most special guests this year are Janice Harrington, also known as the Lady Blues-Gospel, and her band from the USA. Bansko Jazz Festival will be visited by SHAPE International Big Band! This is the NATO’s official Big Band who will close the Festival with the best of the classical jazz of the 40’s - selected pieces by Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, as well as by the contemporary composers Mat Harris and Thom Cubis.

In the near future, you will be informed about the participation of a number of special guests, playing classic, blues, fusion, Latin, nu-jazz, gipsy jazz, R and B, soul, afro-beat and other jazz styles who will contribute to making the 10th jubilee of the festival the most spectacular musical event of the year!