Breda Jazz Festival
Every Ascension Day weekend, jazz fills the streets of Breda. The Breda Jazz Festival is the oldest and largest four-day jazz festival in Europe, started in 1971 with more than 200 concerts across the historic city centre. Around 250,000 visitors each year.
✅ Mostly free — most outdoor concerts are free. Some indoor performances require tickets (€20–€22.50).
Mostly free — most outdoor concerts are freely accessible. Some indoor performances require tickets (€20–€22.50).
How it started
The festival started in 1971, inspired by the jazz traditions of New Orleans. The historic Breda city centre, with the Grote Kerk and Harbour, provides the perfect backdrop.
What you’ll find
More than 200 concerts
Twenty stages across the city — from swinging and loud on the Grote Markt to intimate and acoustic in a church or courtyard garden.
Breda Jazz Award
Each year the Breda Jazz Award goes to a musician making an exceptional contribution to jazz. In 2025, it went to drummer Chris Strik.
Twenty stages are scattered across the city, each with its own atmosphere and style. The Grote Markt is loud and swinging, with big names and an exuberant crowd; step into a small church or courtyard and the sound turns intimate and acoustic. Visitors spend days wandering from stage to stage, discovering something new at every turn — one of the festival’s biggest draws.
That mix pulls in a broad audience: young jazz fans discovering the genre for the first time alongside visitors who’ve followed the festival for decades, tourists who happen to be in Breda that weekend, and musicians who wander over to watch their peers once their own set is done. Between concerts the city’s terraces fill up, and the mood stays relaxed all day, even when a square gets genuinely busy.
For families
The festival also looks after its youngest visitors, with dedicated children’s concerts and activities that make it an easy day out for families too.
A fixed tradition within the festival is the Breda Jazz Award, presented each year to a musician who has made an outstanding contribution to the jazz scene — in 2025 it went to drummer Chris Strik.
The Breda Jazz Festival takes place in 2027 from Thursday 13 to Sunday 16 May, over the Ascension Day weekend. The festival grounds sit in Breda’s historic city centre, within walking distance of the station. Indoor concerts such as the tribute shows in the Grote Kerk often sell out quickly, so anyone who doesn’t want to miss one should book ahead via bredajazzfestival.nl.
Even for visitors with no ticket at all, a full weekend of free outdoor music across twenty stages is enough to fill several days.
Founded in 1971 and inspired by the jazz traditions of New Orleans, the festival has grown from a handful of performances into one of the largest jazz events on the continent, drawing musicians and fans from well beyond the Netherlands.
Practical info
- • Date 2027: 13–16 May (Ascension Day weekend)
- • Entry: mostly free; paid indoor shows via bredajazzfestival.nl
- • Location: historic Breda city centre — Breda Centraal station is walkable
- • Programme: bredajazzfestival.nl