“The health crisis has revealed more than ever our incredible capacity for adaptation and resilience. Our Nice Jazz Festival, the first jazz festival in the world born in 1948, is irrefutable proof of this. I invite you to join us from July 15 to 19, 2022, for a new edition that is even more splendid.” With these words, Christian Estrosi confirmed the conclusion of this iconic event which, after being suspended in 2020, was able to return even under health restrictions.
It was an opportunity to offer a new experience, useful for other occasions, to festival-goers with a large single stage at Place Masséna, a 100% seated format where social distancing was possible, a reduced capacity (2,800 seats per night instead of the usual 10,000), COVID references on-site, and a traffic direction system to avoid crowd intersections. Finally, an antigen testing tent was set up every evening at the festival entrance to offer the public not in possession of a health pass the opportunity to get tested.
Sébastien Vidal, the Artistic Director, presented a program of national and international scope, but also local, with many creations from Nice artists.
The 2021 Edition in Numbers
12,479 spectators for a capacity of 14,000 seats (note: 42,700 in 2019, 40,100 in 2018, 38,400 in 2017). 1 sold-out night (2,800 people)
8,400 hours of work accumulated by technical teams; 611 antigen tests conducted at the festival entrance; 400 agents mobilized; 19 days of setup; 15 artists and groups; 10 days of dismantling; 6 days of concerts including July 14; 3 stages per night
As every year, alongside the Nice Jazz Festival, people from Nice and tourists can enjoy an OFF jazz program in Nice and in the municipalities of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis. Jazz thus resonated everywhere, from Castle Hill to the market squares of Nice, gathering more than 600 people.
The metropolitan communes of Belvédère, Eze, Bonson, La Trinité, Colomars, Valdeblore, Duranus, and Saint Blaise also enjoyed concerts orchestrated by the elite of Azurean jazz groups, gathering around a hundred spectators per evening.
The celebration continues until August 14 in the communes of Bonson, La Trinité, Saint André de la Roche, Roquebillière, Isola, Auron, Rimplas, Saint Sauveur sur Tinée, and Roussillon sur Tinée.
