39 bands at the International Dixieland Festival Dresden

39 bands and soloists from several European countries will take part in the International Dixieland Festival Dresden in May 2025, including formations from Belgium, Denmark, France and Portugal, the organizers announced. There will be a total of 250 hours of traditional jazz at 48 concerts. Tickets for the 53rd edition of Europe's largest Dixieland festival go on sale this Friday.

110 hours of jazz will be offered free of charge

The spectacle is planned from May 10 to 18. In addition to tried-and-tested venues such as the open-air stage in the Großer Garten and the Terrassenufer, there will also be a few new stages, including at Kaufpark Nickern and Club Tante JU. Thanks to a corporate sponsorship, the Jazz Mile in the city center is secured for several years. There, as at several other concerts, fans can enjoy jazz free of charge - for a total of 110 hours.

The organizer says it wants to bring a breath of fresh air to the festival alongside its established programme - with new concert formats, young bands, new musical offerings and venues. "This approach has proven itself and will also shape the 2025 festival," emphasized festival spokesperson Hendrik
Meyer.

For the first time, there will be an open stage for amateur musicians

For the first time next year. Bands and soloists will then have the chance to prove their skills in front of an audience on a stage on Prager Straße. All they have to do is register. Dixie classics such as the family festival at Dresden Zoo, the Riverboat Shuffle on the Elbe or the Dixie ABC for the youngest fans are also on offer.

The Dixieland Festival in Dresden is a firm institution. Even before the fall of the Berlin Wall, jazz musicians from East and West met here. The organizers claim to host the largest European festival for old-time jazz and see Dresden as the "capital of Dixieland" in Europe. In the years before the pandemic, the organizers counted up to 350,000 spectators per edition.