The 2025 Detroit Jazz Festival saw an approximate 30 percent increase from last year in the number of countries within its global livestream audience.
In turn, more than 300,000 attendees gathered during the annual Labor Day weekend event held in downtown and Midtown.
The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation, an independent, non-profit organization that presents jazz and educational workshops throughout the year, produces the Detroit Jazz Festival, which is the signature event for the foundation and the largest free jazz festival in the world.
The festival also is a major tourist attraction for the city, with 26 percent of its audience coming from out of state.
Jazz fans in 43 countries were among the total estimated 1.5M viewers who tuned into the festival’s website and/or social media to watch performances from world renowned and rising jazz artists from the United States and around the globe.
All performances were livestreamed and broadcast “live” for free. Detroit’s Arts and Entertainment Channel, and “detroitiptv” (an affiliate of the Urban Information Network) also carried the livestreams.
Online viewers across the United States were joined by new global markets including Cuba, Greece, and Croatia. Other jazz fans tuned in from Asia, Australia, Europe, Japan, Latin America, Sweden, and Ukraine, among others.
To enhance the experience the festival’s recently added technology upgrades in broadcast hardware and software that provided seamless livestream delivery and quality to viewers, resulting in 30,000 total watchable hours. This represents an average of 11-18 minutes per person watching performances on the website, social media channels, or restream.
Meanwhile in Detroit, crowds gathered to see nearly 50 performances on stages at Cadillac Square, Hart Plaza, and at the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center located on the Wayne State University campus.
“This year was truly remarkable and one of the most successful jazz festivals in our 46-year history,” says Chris Collins, president and artistic director of the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation.
For more information, visit detroitjazzfest.org.
