How to get booked at jazz festivals

Playing a jazz festival rarely comes down to one lucky email. It comes at the end of a long road: clubs, venues, smaller festivals, a record, some press, and then a proposal that reaches the right person while they are still building the programme. This guide covers how festivals usually work from the inside, what they look at, and how to plan a year around them.

How a festival programmes

Every festival has a person or a small team who decides the bill: the artistic director, sometimes called the curator or the programmer. They have to balance several things at once. They need names that sell tickets and projects that give the edition its character. They also want musicians from the local scene and the odd discovery.

Before you write to them, it helps to know a few things:

• Programming happens far ahead. Large festivals usually settle most of their bill many months before the first concert. By the time the announcement comes out, the programme is already closed.
• A lot comes through agencies. International tours are almost always agreed between festivals and agents. If you have no agent, your way in is through the local scene, open calls and writing to festivals yourself.
• They do not all work the same way. Some are large festivals with international headliners, such as Jazzaldia in San Sebastián or the Festival de Jazz de Vitoria-Gasteiz. Some are city festivals that spread concerts across many venues, such as the Voll-Damm Festival Internacional de Jazz de Barcelona or JazzMadrid. Others are small town and regional festivals, and these are often more open to new projects.
• Some have their own doors. These can be a stage for emerging bands, a series for the local scene, a competition or an open call. When a festival has one, its site usually explains how it works.

The road from the clubs

A festival wants to book someone who already has a story to tell. That story starts lower down, in the places where people play every week.

Your city's scene. This means the clubs, the jam sessions and the series at small venues. It is where other musicians hear you and where your audience starts to form, and the person who books your city's festival often goes there too. Many festivals keep room for musicians from their own area, so that is usually the first door to try.

Small festivals. A town festival is worth playing for its own sake. It gives you experience on a big stage, photos, video and another line in your press kit. Whoever books it often knows the people who book the big ones.

A project with a shape. "A quartet that plays standards" is hard to book. A new record, a repertoire with an idea behind it, a well-thought-out tribute or a collaboration with another musician all give the programmer something to write in the brochure.

What they look at in your project

When a proposal reaches the artistic director, they decide quickly, and the decision comes down to a handful of questions.

People often forget the last point. If the latest date on your site is two years old, it looks as if the band has split up. The practical side matters too. A quintet travelling from far away costs more than a local duo, and the programmer does those sums.

Showcases and trade fairs

A showcase is a short concert put on so that programmers, agents and press can see you play. Some trade fairs have jazz showcases, such as jazzahead! in Bremen, and there are national and regional meetings too. To play at one you usually have to be selected through an open call.

Playing a showcase does not get you booked by itself. It puts you in front of many programmers in a single afternoon. It works best if you arrive with meetings already set up, your press kit ready, and something to tell the people who come over to talk to you afterwards.

Support and co-productions

Taking a band to a distant festival costs money. A programmer can like the music and still turn it down because the trip doesn't fit the budget.

• Public cultural institutions, whether national, regional or local, sometimes offer support for musicians' travel or touring. Each one has its own calls and conditions, so look for them early.
• If you have support, say so. A proposal is easier to accept when part of the trip is already covered.
• Co-productions exist too: two or three festivals agree to share a tour or a premiere. If a festival books you, ask whether it knows others that could join.

A year of preparation

Each festival programmes at its own pace, so the months in this plan are an example and not a fixed calendar. What matters is the order.

1. 12 months beforeDecide on the year's project: the repertoire, the line-up, whether there will be a record. List the festivals that fit and look at who they booked in recent editions.
2. 10 months beforeFilm a live video of a whole tune with good sound. Update your site, your dates and your press kit.
3. 9 to 7 months beforeWrite to each festival separately, to the person who books. If they do not say how and when they take proposals, ask.
4. 6 months beforeSend a short follow-up with something new. Apply for the touring support that fits your project.
5. 3 months beforeBook dates at clubs and venues near the confirmed festivals, so the trip is worth making.
6. The festivalPlay, record and take photos. Invite other programmers and the local press.
7. AfterwardsSay thank you, share the photos and the review, and note what worked for next year.

For how to write those emails, with examples, see how to write to a venue or a festival.

What your site does meanwhile

While you wait for a reply to your first email, your site does its own work. The programmer opens it to check three things: that you are who you say you are, that the project is active, and that you sound the way the email promises.

In Pages, the dates you enter in the Calendar appear on your site. They are also published as events that search engines can read. You can put the press kit on a private page, behind a secret link or a password (on the Pro and Max plans). If you write to festivals in other countries, the site can have more languages, each at its own address. To prepare the press kit, see the press kit guide.

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• enUpcoming datesyourname.page.tjp.app/en
• esPróximas fechasyourname.page.tjp.app/esIn order
• frProchaines datesyourname.page.tjp.app/frAI, check it
• deNächste Termineyourname.page.tjp.app/deReview