Live music, food, adult beverages and fast cars will take over the Bergeron Rodeo Grounds for the inaugural Davie Jazz Festival this month. And organizers promise something for everyone, including newcomers to the genre.
In an effort to carve out more opportunities for arts and cultural education, the town of Davie in partnership with the newly founded Davie Jazz Society and other organizations are launching the inaugural Davie Jazz Festival at 4271 Davie Road on Sunday, April 28 with gates opening at 1 p.m. and music starting at 2 p.m.
Zita Steglich Ross is the festival’s producer and chief marketing officer for Steglich Ross and Associates, an Orlando-based hospitality marketing consulting firm that works with governments and businesses.
Ross said she was contacted by a friend who recently moved to Davie who spoke to the Mayor Judy Paul and said local high schools and colleges had jazz bands and music programs that fostered an increased interest in more live jazz in a town historically known for its rural areas, equestrian activities and cowboy traditions.
“I am a lover of jazz, I have been ever since I was a teenager,” Paul said. “We’re really excited because I think it’s going to expand our use of the rodeo arena to show that it is for more than just rodeos, that it’s a multi-use facility and the lineup they prepared is phenomenal. I’m really very excited and looking forward to it and I hope it’s the first of many.”
“Davie is a horse town,” Ross said. “However, the surrounding schools — you have Broward College and Nova and some high schools that are very supportive of the jazz genre.”
In addition to a lineup of prominent national and local jazz artists, Broward College’s jazz band will perform several pieces at the opening of the festival and organizers are forging relationships with local schools’ music and jazz programs, Ross said.
“What we decided to do is build these relationships with the schools,” she said. “We have also developed the Davie Jazz Society who would be reaching out to them later in the year and how they can be more engaged, whether it be more publicity or finding events for them to participate in or fundraising that’s needed. So they’re going to engage the schools after the festival and see how we can help them with their endeavors.”
Headlining acts for the festival include saxophonist Marion Meadows; saxophonist Kim Waters and his daughter, pianist Kayla Waters; Latin jazz and gospel singer Vikki Romero; and singer Alvin Bell.
In addition to music, there will be vendors set up to help educate people on music’s therapeutic effect on those with stress, depression, Parkinson’s disease and other conditions.
“We will have 211 Broward, the Taylor Moxey Foundation, Recovered in Tune and the Old Davie School,” Ross said. “Those will all be in a section called Humanity Village where they’ll share information about how music helps people with various illnesses and ailments.”
There will be food vendors and trucks set up at the festival grounds serving a variety of food, beverage and dessert options throughout the day.
Ross said some of them will include a vegan truck, Enrique’s Kitchen, Florida Roasted Corn, Uniquely Organic (specialty coffee with crepes and juices), Fry Head (fried lobster, chicken, shrimp and flavored French fries), Joey’s Ice Cream (milkshakes, soft serve, frozen lemonade), Sweet Blendz (açaí berry bowls) and Wyndham Parlor (fresh baked cookies and ice cream).
Porsche of West Broward is co-sponsoring the event and will have three cars on display at the festival grounds.
Acknowledging the possibility that the location could preclude some from making the drive from Miami or Palm Beach counties, Ross said, “people that love jazz or follow jazz know that the industry needs their support, so I would love to ask them to come to Davie and support this initiative so we can continue growing and adding more national acts so that they don’t have to travel far to see top-notch, professional musicians.”
To those who live in Davie or nearby communities who are reluctant to attend a jazz festival, she said, “come out and support the mayor and the diversity that she would love to showcase — whether it’s people, music, food — just come on out and have a good time with us.”
Tickets are $30 for the general admission and $15 for students with valid ID. There is also a VIP package for $65 that includes food, two beverages and complimentary parking.
Visit DavieJazz.com.