Address:

P.O. Box 50, Port Hope ON L1A 3W2
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Category:

Theatre Music Visual Arts and Entertainment

Event Details:

The Port Hope Jazz Festival Celebrates 25 Years of Exceptional Canadian Jazz Musicians
August 20 - 23, 2026

This year, we’ve got free and ticketed events; we have shows outdoors and indoors; during the morning, afternoon, and night. There are many genres to choose from, performed by Canadian jazz musicians, representing music from different parts of the world.

There’s straight-ahead jazz, jazz with a Hispanic groove, and we’re paying tribute to two jazz masters during the centenary of their birth. There will be free-wheeling improvisation, big band music, and performances of brand‑new music, too.

The Memorial Park bandshell will be jam-packed with performances starting on Thursday night with the Angela Pincente Big Band. Saturday and Sunday, the Festival will host concerts on the Youth Jazz Stage during the afternoon. The Ganaraska Brewery will have a beer garden in the park in case you get thirsty.

Later on Thursday, the Dánae Olano Quartet will perform at the BLou Room. The After Hours Jam will take place in the BLou Room on Friday and Saturday night with musicians Michael Shand, Duncan Hopkins, and Lorne Nehring hosting. Musicians are invited to bring their instruments and sit in. JABFUNG will play contemporary jazz from their latest release on Saturday afternoon. They’ll be joined by Virginia McDonald, Luis Deniz, and Mike Ragonese.

The Hotel Carlyle and Restaurant will host three events: Genevieve “Gigi” Marentette and Michael Shand will perform on Friday night, and Eliana Cuevas and Jeremy Ledbetter will perform on Saturday evening. Sunday morning, Alex Samaras, Allison Au, and Todd Pentney will be there for the restaurant’s jazz brunch.

The Festival presents three concerts at Port Hope United Church this year. Vocalist Emilie-Claire Barlow will entertain on Friday night, and on Saturday, the Festival pays tribute to John Coltrane during his birth centenary. Adrean Farrugia, Marcus Nance, Pat LaBarbera, Jake Koffman, Mark Kelso, and Dan Fortin honour the album “John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman” and other essential Coltrane recordings.

Saturday morning, Colleen Allen will have a conversation with Pat LaBarbera at Port Hope Public Library. Bring your coffee and enjoy stories from Pat’s incredible career in jazz music.

The Ganaraska Hotel will be busy on Saturday. The Dixie Demons perform Dixieland jazz in the afternoon, and Canadian Blues award-winning Angelique Francis and her band will electrify in the evening.

On Sunday, the second centenary birth celebration of the Festival—this time for Miles Davis—will be performed by the Steve Holt Impact Quintet at the Ganaraska Brewery.

The final performance of the Festival will be on Sunday afternoon in Port Hope United Church. Gord Sheard, piano and Colleen Allen, saxophone, will perform Jazz Vespers.
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Port Hope Jazz is a volunteer-driven, non-profit organization passionate about delivering the best of Canadian Jazz to residents and visitors in Port Hope, Ontario.