For the past 25 years, Murfreesboro students and residents could rely on Main Street JazzFest as the annual jazz extravaganza that signals the beginning of summer. But longtime locals found themselves singing the blues when Main Street Murfreesboro announced it will no longer host the popular music festival following the 2022 event on the Square.

“When it was determined that they weren’t going to continue it, I think it was . . . just one of those community things that everybody enjoyed and loved,” said Tammy Sharp, Rutherford County School Board chairman. “It was kind of like a stab in the heart.”

Main Street JazzFest was an annual free outdoor community event held on the first weekend of May on the Murfreesboro Public Square. The weekend was packed with an assortment of jazz music played by local students showcasing their hard work on the same billing as professional headliners. It was an opportunity not only for musicians to play and appreciate music, but for the town to come together as a community with vendors, activities and educational music sessions.

In November, Main Street Murfreesboro sent out an email to band members and directors outlining some of the struggles related to putting on the event.

“Main Street Murfreesboro considers it an honor to have led the collective effort of embracing and showcasing jazz in our community for the last 25 years. Our greatest joy has been watching JazzFest’s impact on jazz programming in the schools as this was one of the pillars upon which the event was built,” according to a written statement from the Main Street Murfreesboro Executive Board.

The board lists a few reasons why Main Street Murfreesboro can no longer host the event: The increased interest in the event, growth in the school system’s jazz music program, past weather cancellations, and COVID led to financial and logistical challenges in effectively executing JazzFest.

Main Street Murfreesboro is accredited by the National Main Street Program, which shifted its focus post-COVID from community events to economic development and recovery for small businesses. Main Street Murfreesboro followed suit, according to the statement.

“JazzFest was one of the largest events, requiring over nine months of preparation time, accumulating the majority of expenses to carry out, and utilizing the most resources from our city government over two days,” the statement continued.

Over the past two years, Main Street Murfreesboro’s governing board reviewed the impact of their events on businesses. They mentioned that JazzFest closed the businesses on the square from Friday afternoon through Saturday night, all at the risk of weather cancellations. If there was bad weather, sponsors would not see that money back.

No return on investments in the past makes it harder to get funding in the future for necessary pieces of the puzzle: headliners, staging and equipment, according to the board.

For these reasons, Main Street’s Executive Board decided to no longer organize the event. They noted their gratitude to everyone who helped make JazzFest a prominent part of the community in years past and expressed a desire for the community’s love for jazz to endure.

“With the support and love from our community for the student jazz performers in our schools, the legacy of jazz will continue to move forward despite this event not occurring on the downtown square,” the Board wrote.

Main Street emphasized that it will support anyone who takes over the festival.

“Should another group step forward, we plan to continue to be a proud supporter of the event, as we value the jazz programs in local schools and are confident that this music genre will remain a staple in our community for years to come,” the statement said.

And some have stepped forward to take over the reins. Three Rutherford County School Board members—Sharp, Katie Darby and Claire Maxwell—are leading the charge. Upon hearing the news, they agreed they needed to do something, not necessarily as members of the school board, but of the community, according to Sharp.

Once their efforts ramped up, so did community interest in helping them, Sharp said. People have shown a lot of interest in their first few meetings of 2023.

“We had people show up that we didn’t know. People that were involved in [organizing previous JazzFest festivals],” Sharp said. “Because the media has done such a phenomenal job of getting it out there. People are reaching out, saying, ‘We want to help y’all do this.’ So, it’s been great.”

This wave of interest also swept in Scott Graby, owner of Fountains at Gateway on Medical Center Parkway, who agreed to host JazzFest there, at least for 2023.

What Else Will Be Different?

“We don’t expect any major changes,” Sharp said. Still early in the planning process, many details have not yet been finalized. However, Sharp said it will remain the first weekend in May. One difference she mentioned was there will be no outside food vendors because of the options already available at the Fountains, such as Burger Republic, Just Love Coffee and The Sodabar.

“We want to make sure that we do the festival well, that means prioritizing our students and the headliners,” she said.

Area corporations are starting to get involved in sponsorships, with the focus on raising money for headliners. Any remaining money will go toward the Fine Arts Program at Rutherford County schools, according to Sharp.

Getting their proposed budget covered by individual and corporate sponsors is vital to the revitalization of JazzFest, says Karl Wingruber, the brand director at Saint Rose Lima Catholic School and a saxophonist for Music City Swing who has helped put on JazzFest for the past 20 years. No budget means no headliners, but the students will surely be there.

“There’s a whole lot of positive energy just surrounding the fact that it’s going to survive, but we won’t be able to feed off of that forever,” says Wingruber. “We need some specifics on who’s going to play this thing. Right now, we’re in the process of booking all the high schools and middle schools that will definitely be participating.”

Planning for who else will be playing is in the works.

“We are looking at some local and regional talent, some of which resides in Music City and some of which resides in the surrounding states. There are some big names that have moved to town here just in the last couple of years and so we’re starting with them,” Wingruber said.

He confirmed that he’s started negotiations with the Army National Guard jazz band from Cookeville, who have been a highlight of JazzFest in years past.

According to Wingruber, among the four headliners will be another genre, likely blues, which is a tradition among most jazz festivals.

“We’re going to continue that kind of open-mindedness on professional acts,” Wingruber said.

For those looking to get involved or obtain more information, Sharp posts updates and meeting information under the Facebook profile “Tammy Sharp Rutherford County School Board-Zone 1.”

Meanwhile, on the Square

Main Street Murfreesboro will still continue its Friday Night Live concerts this year, according to its Executive Director Sarah Callender.

“These events have little negative impact on our businesses due to them being scheduled one night a month during the summer season after business hours,” Callender said. “They bring large crowds downtown for our restaurants and bars as well. The cost of these concerts is minimal compared to multiple artists for JazzFest.”

These Friday concerts take place from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the inner circle of the Rutherford County Courthouse and will include country cover band Justin Kirk on June 2 and R&B cover band Entice on July 7.