{"id":32135,"date":"2026-05-01T10:02:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/?p=32135"},"modified":"2026-05-01T10:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:04:18","slug":"midhurst-jazz-food-blues-festival-unveils-year-round-programme-and-new-membership-offering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/midhurst-jazz-food-blues-festival-unveils-year-round-programme-and-new-membership-offering\/","title":{"rendered":"Midhurst Jazz, Food & Blues Festival unveils year-round programme and new membership offering"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Midhurst Jazz, Food & Blues Festival (<\/span>MJFBF<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>) has today announced its evolution into a year-round programme of live music, food and cultural events, following a hugely successful debut that drew more than 5,500 visitors and firmly established the West Sussex town as a new destination for jazz and blues.<\/span><\/p>

Revealed on International Jazz Day (30 April), the move marks a significant next step for the festival, which welcomed approximately 2,500 ticket holders alongside a further 3,000 visitors to its Fringe programme in 2025, with sell-out performances, national press coverage and widespread acclaim from audiences, artists and local businesses alike.<\/span><\/p>

Rather than remaining a once-a-year event, the festival will now deliver a curated programme of monthly and quarterly experiences across a network of venues throughout Midhurst, creating a permanent cultural presence in the town. New formats include \u201cThe Sofa Sessions\u201d<\/span><\/strong> at the Lion\u2019s Den Caf\u00e9 and \u201cThe Cellar Sessions\u201d<\/span><\/strong> at Fairview Wines (both from \u00a320 online), the \u201cThe Sunday Tea Parties\u201d<\/span><\/strong> at Kemaelli\u2019s (from \u00a35 online), alongside the \u201cJam Sessions\u201d<\/span><\/strong> at The Wheatsheaf (from \u00a37.50 online for spectators, free for musicians), the immersive \u201cHalf Note Club\u201d<\/span><\/strong> at Fratelli\u2019s (from \u00a3110 online), and a quarterly jazz\/blues-only \u201cVinyl Fair\u201d <\/span><\/strong>at the Old Library (just \u00a32.50 to enter). The programme is built around a simple idea: to \u2018discover together\u2019 – bringing people closer to music, food and shared experiences across the year.<\/span><\/p>

The first events in the new programme begin in May, opening with a Jam Session on 20th May, followed by the first Sofa Session on 21st May featuring Sam Kelly\u2019s Station House<\/span><\/strong>. A Sunday Tea Party will take place on 31st May, with a Cellar Session from Will James <\/span><\/strong>on 10th June, and the first Half Note Club on 18th June presenting One Night Only\u2026 at the Half Note Club. Early performances will also feature artists including Big Joe Louis<\/span><\/strong>, The Fraser Smith Quartet, <\/span><\/strong>and \u201cLevel\u201d Neville Malcolm.<\/span><\/strong> Further names will be announced on a rolling basis.<\/span><\/p>

A special collaborative programme – \u201cThe Langham Sessions\u201d<\/span><\/strong> – with the Langham Brewery will feature newer, innovative musicians, drawing on talent emerging from the UK\u2019s now world-renowned new jazz scene. The first Langham Session will feature Resolution88<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>

Alongside the expanded programme, the festival is introducing its first-ever membership model, designed to build a loyal and engaged audience around the brand. Priced at \u00a359 per year – with an Early Bird price of just \u00a349 only until 20th May –\u00a0 membership includes 15% off year-round events, priority booking access, a quarterly newsletter, private events, exclusive updates and special offers from MJFBF partners. Membership offers a compelling new way for audiences to engage with the programme throughout the year.<\/span><\/p>

The flagship Midhurst Jazz, Food & Blues Festival will return in November 2026, continuing to act as the annual centrepiece, with further artist announcements to follow in the coming weeks.<\/span><\/p>

The move to a year-round model also creates a limited number of new opportunities for brand partners, with the festival offering a deliberately selective sponsorship structure designed to prioritise quality, visibility and meaningful engagement across the calendar.<\/span><\/p>

Adam Page, Festival Director of MJFBF, said: \u201cLast year proved something very important – that there is a real appetite for what we\u2019re building here in Midhurst. The response from audiences, artists, venues and partners exceeded all expectations.<\/span><\/p>

The natural next step was never to go quiet for eleven months of the year. This programme allows us to build something continuous – a proper cultural presence that supports artists, brings people into the town regularly, and creates a much deeper relationship with our audience.<\/span><\/p>

Whether it\u2019s an intimate Sofa Session or a packed Jam night, the focus is always on quality and experience. And with membership, we\u2019re giving people a way to be part of it in a much more meaningful way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Richard Wyatt, Chair of sponsors Loudwater Partners, added: \u201cWhat has been created in Midhurst is genuinely distinctive – an intimate, high-quality cultural offer with real depth. Moving to a year-round programme strengthens that considerably, giving audiences more opportunities to engage and partners a much more meaningful platform over time.<\/span><\/p>

It\u2019s rare to see something with this level of clarity and potential so early on, and it\u2019s exactly the kind of initiative that merits long-term support.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

The year-round programme is supported by a growing group of partners who share the festival\u2019s vision, including Mortimers Prestige and Langham Brewery, Loudwater Partners, Venelle Life, and Kerry Type. Together, they represent a collective commitment to supporting culture, community and independent business in Midhurst, helping to create a programme that brings the town together and invites audiences to discover something new throughout the year.<\/span><\/p>

In its inaugural year, the festival delivered 2,456 ticket sales across 42 events, with 121 performances staged in 14 venues, alongside an estimated 3,250 additional Fringe attendees and a strong regional audience profile. With its expansion into a continuous programme, MJFBF is now positioned as both a cultural and economic driver for the town and wider region.<\/span><\/p>

Matt Gooda of sponsors Mortimers Prestige, concluded: \u201cWhat Adam\u2019s done has already given Midhurst a strong sense of pride. The festival is staking a big claim for Midhurst\u2019s cultural identity but his approach to making it town-wide also activates the town-wide economy, and now that\u2019s going to be\u00a0 all year round. So we\u2019re very happy to support that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Further information, including membership and sponsorship opportunities, is available at<\/span> www.midhurstjazzandblues.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> For tickets for upcoming events visit: <\/span>https:\/\/www.tickettailor.com\/events\/midhurstjazzfestival<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Midhurst Jazz, Food & Blues Festival (MJFBF) has today announced its evolution into a year-round programme of live music, food and cultural events, following a hugely successful debut that drew more than 5,500 visitors and firmly established the West Sussex town as a new destination for jazz and blues. Revealed on International Jazz Day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":32136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[933],"tags":[],"directory-category":[],"event_categories":[],"class_list":["post-32135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 12:33:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32135"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32140,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32135\/revisions\/32140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32135"},{"taxonomy":"directory-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory-category?post=32135"},{"taxonomy":"event_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/west-sussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event_categories?post=32135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}