Without doubt one of the jewels of the Cote d’Azur crown is the Nice Jazz Festival, which lights up the French Riviera for five days of heavenly music during July.
The festival – which is easily accessible from any one of the popular resorts which line the coast using our helicopter charter company – will this year take place in the department’s largest city from July 8th to 12th.
Throughout this five day extravaganza music fans from St Tropez to Nice will have the chance to listen to an eclectic mix of jazz, from Gospel and blues to urban funk in Place Massena and the Theatre de Verdure, in the heart of Nice.
This year’s line-up includes jazz Legends such as Ibrahim Maalouf, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dr John and Jimi Brown who will play in series of concerts which take place in the evening – so ideal for visitors coming from St Tropez to Nice after a day on the beach.
Jazz lovers can enjoy the white sandy beaches of St Tropez until the sun goes down – before reserving a ride with our helicopter charter company who will get you from St Tropez to Nice in just 20 minutes.
Jazz became popular in France in the early 20th century having been brought to Europe by United States servicemen following World War I. The Nice Jazz Festival began in 1948 and is now regarded amongst some of Europe’s major jazz events, such as the Montreux jazz festival in Switzerland and Italy’s Umbria Jazz festival.
Initially the festival in Nice was set up to try to counter balance the success of the Cannes Film Festival, which had put the town on the map in the 1940s. But the Nice event wasn’t as instantly popular as the film festival, taking a few years longer to establish on the Cote d’Azur calendar.
The Nice Jazz Festival has been fortunate enough to play host to many musical legends, of all genres, over the years including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Cliff, B.B. King, Jamiroquai and Joe Jackson to name but a few.
