The combination of mouthwatering foods, enjoyable bands, lively street performers and unique vendors drew in almost 100,000 people to “The Heart of the City’s” annual Fillmore Jazz Festival.
The two-day festival ran from Jackson to Eddy Street in the Fillmore District of San Francisco.
The Fillmore District first gave birth to its unique Street Jazz neighborhood in the 1940s.
From the beginning, the Fillmore District has been known for celebrating its personal style and appreciation of diversity through art and music.
Over the decades, performers such as Lady Memphis, Big Blues Band and Pete Escovedo have performed on one of the many Fillmore stages.
The first annual jazz festival was held in the summer of 1985, around the time when a mini renaissance was giving rise to a new generation within the Fillmore District.
Now the eight block Louisiana-style jazz festival is the largest free jazz festival on the West Coast.
This year, one of the biggest attractions at the festival was the food. From Mediterranean to Asian, there was definitely something to fit everyone’s taste buds.
The barbeque tents stayed packed from sun up until sundown, grilling chicken, sweet corn and oysters.
The New Orleans style Cajun seafood was a hit and Peter’s Kettle Corn spot was popping all day.
Throughout the festival, plenty of things were around to keep visitors entertained, as the Fillmore District is home to over 200 shops, restaurants and jazz clubs.
The variety of vendors also had spectators of the festival stopping every few feet. The tents sold items like vintage CDs and records, fitted toe rings, massage tables, handcrafted jewelry and tons of hats among many other things.
Many different live bands performed on the different Fillmore stages over the span of the two-day festival.
Some of the performers that graced the jazz festival were the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, The Nigerian Brothers, The Venezuelan Music Project and The Kaye Brohlers Band.
In addition to all the fun, good music and flavorful food, the weather in San Francisco was beautiful over the holiday weekend.
The Fillmore Jazz Festival is the place to be for music lovers, food fanatics and family adventures.
