Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival founder Jim Simpson revealed the popular festival could be consigned to history after vital funding has been pulled by Birmingham City Council and Westside Business Improvement District.
Despite attracting 88,000 music lovers to the region last year, the vast majority of which enjoyed live jazz and blues for free, the festival lost public funding.
Founder of Birmingham Jazz Festival Jim Simpson
Jim told the Express & Star: “This year’s festival will be the last if nothing changes. We attracted 88,000 people to the region last year for gigs in Birmingham and the Black Country so we expected some public funding this year.
“However, Birmingham City Council has pulled our funding and we found out recently Westside BID has also stopped their funding. So I have had to take out a loan myself to underwrite this year’s festival.”
Jim’s Big Bear music group has staged thousands of gigs over the last five decades including Black Sabbath’s first foray into gigging in the second city.
He said: “I’m in my 80s and cannot keep underwriting the jazz festival out of my own pocket so if nothing changes this year’s festival will be the last.”
The Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival will return for its 41st year in July
The jazz and blues festival’s Black Country venues include Blackheath Library and Bleakhouse Library as well as libraries, museums, and art galleries across Sandwell. Bearwood’s Lightwoods Park usually hosts jazz music at its bandstand.
Jim said: “The Birmingham Jazz Festival is so much more than Birmingham, we have gigs from Coventry to Sandwell. Of course after 41 years it will be heartbreaking to end it but we can stage so many free gigs for nothing. Surely bringing 88,000 people into the area and all the money they spend must give those who allocate funding a reason to keep the festival going, this is exactly what Birmingham and the Black Country needs>”
Jim was speaking at his new venture, Blues at the Bartons, which Big Bear will be providing artists every Friday night at Aston’s historic Barton’s Arms Palace of Varieties venue.
Blues at the Bartons
He said: “The room upstairs has the best acoustics in Birmingham. If this was in Broad Street it would be world renowned. So that is why we are holding our weekly Blues concerts at the Barton’s Arms.
“The first gig on Friday night was fantastic, we had Rich Dickinson’s Driving Force who were the first of seven quality headline Blues acts we have got booked at the Bartons Arms this summer.”
The 2025 Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival runs from July 18 until 27 July
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