Initiative invites festival visitors and the local community to frequent Saratoga County Chamber businesses and restaurants, showcasing Saratoga Springs as a world-class “jazz city”
 
(Saratoga Springs, NY) – Saratoga Performing Arts Center in partnership with the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce announced that its Freihofer’s Jazz Fest Friday initiative, presented by Times Union, will return on June 28, 2019. Created to increase collaboration among the local business community, attract more jazz festival attendees and the local community to downtown establishments, and to celebrate Saratoga’s rich history of jazz, the event also serves as the kick-off to Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival weekend on June 29 and 30.
“Our Freihofer’s Jazz Fest Friday event has grown tremendously as a city-wide celebration of jazz, showcasing the incredible local artists and venues that Saratoga has to offer,” said SPAC President & CEO Elizabeth Sobol. “This year we are building off of last year’s success, attracting even more out-of-town guests to our vibrant downtown as a festive kick-off to our world-class Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival.”
The initiative was launched in 2018 by SPAC and the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce to expand the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival’s role as an economic driver for the region. Jazz Fest Friday also celebrates Saratoga’s rich history as a “jazz city,” and the continued contributions of institutions like Caffè Lena, the Skidmore College Jazz Institute, and the many clubs that feature live music.
“The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Saratoga Performing Arts Center is proud to host the 2nd Annual Freihofer’s Jazz Fest Friday, presented by the Times Union. We’re honored to organize this community event which has quickly become a popular and unique warm-up to the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival weekend. This event showcases local jazz musicians who are hired to perform live at Saratoga County Chamber member hotels, restaurants, shops and stores across the City of Saratoga Springs – from Beekman Street to Broadway to Saratoga Lake and beyond,” said Todd Shimkus, President of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.
Freihofer’s Jazz Fest Friday will feature Chamber businesses welcoming locals and visitors with scores of live jazz events, themed dining, and social dance options that will serve as the kick-off to the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival in Saratoga Springs. Participating restaurants, bars and venues include: The Adelphi Hotel, Sperry’s Restaurant, The Local Pub & Teahouse, Kru Coffee Saratoga, Impressions of Saratoga, Burger Fi Saratoga, Dark Horse Mercantile, Savory Pantry, G. Willikers Toys, Lifestyles of Saratoga, Embassy Suites Saratoga, Hampton Inn – Saratoga Springs, Homewood Suites, Wishing Well Restaurant, Amigos Cantina, and more.
A highlight of the jazz inspired festivities scheduled around the city, SPAC and Caffè Lena will present An Evening with Jazz Pianist & Composer Fred Hersch: 50 Years After Stonewall at Caffè Lena. Performing two shows at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on June 28, fourteen-time Grammy®-nominated jazz pianist and composer Fred Hersch will play original pieces in addition to iconic jazz works, while also sharing how The Stonewall Riots shaped him, his career, and his growth as a musician, drawing from his memoir Good Things Happen Slowly.
The Freihofer’s Jazz Fest Friday initiative precedes the 2019 Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, slated for Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30 at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Now in its 42^nd year, the festival features an extraordinary roster of twenty-two musical groups, highlighted by the festival debut of Grammy® award winning artist Norah Jones, and the return of jazz legend George Benson and festival favorite Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Back by popular demand is also Los Van Van 50^th Anniversary, Django Festival All-Stars with Edmar Castañeda and Grace Kelly, Joshua Redman Quartet, and James Carter Organ Trio. Fifteen emerging artists making their Saratoga debuts such as Kandace Springs, Donna Grantis, Joey DeFrancesco Trio, Mercy Project which features Jon Cowherd, Brian Blade, John Patitucci, and Steve Cardenas, Antonio Sanchez & Migration, and Cha Wa. The festival will also feature a record number of groups led by female artists, highlighted by Allison Miller, Veronica Swift, Ruthie Foster and Youn Sun Nah. 
For tickets or more information, visit spac.org. To see a list of participating venues or to sign-up for Freihofer’s Jazz Fest Friday, visit https://www.saratoga.org/tourism/jazz-fest-friday/.
 
 
ABOUT FREIHOFER’S SARATOGA JAZZ FESTIVAL:
 
Founded in 1978 by jazz impresario George Wein, Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival is the fifth longest-consecutive-running jazz festival in North America. Initially founded as “the Newport Jazz Festival at Saratoga” the weekend event was renamed Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival in 1998.  With an inside seating capacity of 5,200, and lawn seating of 20,000, the two-day, two-stage festival continues to be one of the largest jazz music events in North America, beloved by audiences for both the remarkable annual line-up of international jazz talent and the spectacular setting at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in the idyllic Saratoga Spa State Park.
 
More information about what to bring to the Jazz Festival can be found online at www.spac.org.
 
Stella Artois returns to the festival as the lead sponsor of the lawn experience (“the hang”). The upscale Belgian beer company is no stranger to sponsoring high-profile arts and cultural events; they have been notably involved with the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Singapore Jazz Festival, and the Sundance Film Festival.