About us

jazzahead! Trade Fair

jazzahead! is the must-go event for the international jazz industry and the place for high-quality, contemporary jazz from Germany, Europe and overseas. As the world's largest event where all the protagonists of the scene (musicians, labels, agencies, festival makers, bookers and media representatives) meet, it is considered by professional visitors from all over the world as the "Family Reunion of Jazz".

Despite its steady growth, jazzahead! has managed to keep its family character. jazzahead! is not only a trade fair for trade visitors, but also open to the general public - with a program that once a year turns the Hanseatic city of Bremen into a jazz metropolis.

Since 2015, the jazzahead! funded by the budget of the Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

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For Exhibitors

For Professionals

jazzahead! Festival

The jazzahead! Festival, which has been taking place before and during the international jazz meeting since 2011, presents the art and culture scene of an annually changing partner country as well as bands from all over the world in the Hanseatic city in cooperation with around 60 regional, national and international cooperation partners. At the trade fair weekend itself, the program will culminate in 35 venues with 40 showcase concerts, Gala concert and CLUBNIGHT.

jazzahead! Visitor Numbers 2023

At the trade fair 3000 delegates from 60 countries were registered

Around 5500 visitors came to jazzahead! Festival in 2023
and the trend is still rising

Event Platform / App

jazzahead! 2024 will be hybrid.
The event platform talque gives you the chance to connect with fellow participants, plan your time at jazzahead! and watch some content back on demand. You will receive an onboarding mail closer to the event and will be asked to answer some questions to tailor the experience for you and give you suggestions who to connect with. This supports the ones coming to Bremen with some additional tool as well as makes it possible to partake in a smaller scale for those, who will attend digital only.
As a registered participant you will receive an email from talque on February 22nd to log in and answer a few questions in the onboarding process.
Talque works in your browser and in the app.
You can familiarise yourself with talque beforehand here: talque.com/en/talque-knowledge-base.
For further questions in relation to jazzahead!, don’t hesitate to ask Janika Achenbach.

German Jazz Expo

Since 2012, all measures to improve the networking of the German jazz scene in Germany and beyond have been taken under the label German Jazz Expo. In addition to the eight showcase concerts, this includes a central trade fair presence, the German Market.
The German Jazz Expo also includes other program content related to the German jazz scene – e.g. certain panels on topics that are of interest, especially for the German participants, or the biennial prize for German Jazz Journalism.

jazzahead! is funded by the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

German Market
Deutsche Jazz Union special
Prize for German Jazz Journalism
Showcases
Invitation Program

The German Market is the meeting point of the German scene - for club owners, musicians, festival makers and others. It is place to establish and encourage the general promotion of German jazz exports or individual concerns, such as the networking of federal and state activities.

More information: Nina Thomann; +49 (0)421 3505 529.

Especially for the members of the German Jazz Union (Deutsche Jazz Union) jazzahead! offers registrations at a special discount: 95€ plus VAT for a three-day registration for jazzahead! 2024.

Since 2012 jazzahead! award the "Prize for German jazz journalism". It is funded by Dr. E.A. Langner Foundation and endowed with 5,000 €. This prize is part of the German Jazz Expo and is intended to promote qualified reporting on jazz in the German media.

Previous awardees:

2012 – Hans-Jürgen Linke
2013 – Ralf Dombrowski
2015 – Wolf Kampmann
2017 – Martin Laurentiu
2019 – Stefan Hentz

Eight of the 40 showcases on the jazzahead! are dedicated to bands from Germany. Find out more here.

Invitation program for international organizers

As part of the German Jazz Expo, the export platform for Jazz made in Germany at jazzahead!, we are again inviting international organizers and program makers to Bremen in 2024. Participants from this sector of the industry receive preferential conditions for participation and, depending on their origin, also a travel allowance. If you are particularly interested in the German jazz scene or would like to recommend someone, who should be part of this program, please write us an email to Nina Thomann.

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Partner Country

THE 12TH PARTNER COUNTRY OF JAZZAHEAD! WILL BE THE NETHERLANDS IN 2024!

"Explore the vibrant and unconventional world of Dutch jazz, a century-long journey marked by unique interpretations and a bold avant-garde emergence in the 1960s. Pushing the boundaries of traditional jazz, Dutch musicians create a vivid, cross-pollinating scene where improvisation and experimentation blend seamlessly, yielding challenging yet gripping compositions."

"Jazz from the Netherlands is a gracious and playful beast of many colours. For more than a century jazz’s traditional elements have been interpreted in a unique manner by Dutch musicians. In reaction to swing and bebop a strong avant-garde scene – Dutch impro – emerged in the 1960s. Artists started pushing the boundaries of conventional jazz and exploring new sounds and techniques. During the decades since, Dutch venues, festivals and conservatoires serve a vivid, cross-pollinating scene. Jazz artists exchange generously, being receptive to music from all over the world and other art forms. Their improvisation and experimentation permeate deep into compositional practice, its output being both challenging and gripping."

Partner Country at the trade fair
Partner Coutry at the festival
Selection + timeline

THE PARTNER COUNTRY AND ITS JAZZ SCENE WILL BE PRESENTED AT THE FAIR, FOR EXAMPLE DURING THESE OPPORTUNITIES:

Stand and Lounge

The combined space of the partner country stand with the lounge which is adjacent to it are the most central presentation areas at the trade fair.

Showcases

At jazzahead! there will also be 40 showcase concerts, from which 8 are is dedicated to the partner country.

Conferences

Industry- and country-specific topics can be presented and discussed here. In the past, the programme ranged from book presentations, panels and talks to target-group-specific workshops.

Opening

For the official opening of jazzahead! trade fair, national and international guests are expected. On stage, official representatives of the partner countries (e.g. ambassadors, ministers, state secretaries) will open the trade fair together with the jazzahead! and representatives of Bremen, which is one of the German Länder in its own right.

CULTURE FROM THE JAZZAHEAD! PARTNER COUNTRY IN BREMEN

The Jazz country Netherland is the focus of next year's jazzahead!, whether in the context of the showcases in Messehalle 7 and the adjacent Kulturzentrum Schlachthof, in the CLUBNIGHT in Bremen's city center, or at special gala moments. The opening ceremony on Thursday at noon promises to be a brilliant start.

CHOICE OF THE PARTNER COUNTRY

Since 2011 jazzahead! presents an annually changing partner country in the scope of the fair, but also within a city-wide cultural program aimed at the public in Bremen & region. The partner country is chosen and invited by jazzahead! The highest criterion is an exciting, in part still undiscovered jazz scene, which deserves greater international recognition. Another criterion is the culture of the country beyond jazz: in a city-wide cultural festival with regional partners (theaters, bookstores, museums, etc.), the (contemporary) cultural scene of the country is presented.

jazzahead! selects its partner countries, applications are not possible. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to project manager Sybille Kornitschky.