Atlanta Jazz FestivalPhotograph courtesy of Atlanta Jazz Festival When Mayor Maynard Jackson announced plans for his “Atlanta Free Jazz Festival” in 1978, he called jazz “America’s only original art form . . . whose roots are indigenous to the South.” The word free worked double duty, deno ting its ticket price as well as the festival’s ambitions to showcase the genre’s most innovative musicians. Today, the Atlanta Jazz Festival, held this Memorial Day weekend, from May 23 to 25, is one of the largest events of its kind in the nation—and it remains free, a rarity among modern music festivals. These numbers help tell the story: 1 Number of city officials who showed up for the mayor’s first Jazz Fest brainstorming session in 1978 (enthusiasm grew later) 3,000 Estimated number of attendees who arrived hours early to see Miles Davis play a set for his comeback tour in 1983 $19,000 Budget for the first Atlanta Free Jazz Festival (equal to $99,000 today) $150 Fee for festival headliners in 1978 $100,000 Maximum pay for festival headliners as of 2021 49 Birthday Andre 3000 celebrated on the same day he played his surprise (and controversial) flute performance in 2024 1985 Year the word free was dropped from the festival name (people knew it was free, and the city wanted to lose the emphasis on “really out-there jazz”) 200,000 Number of attendees expected at the 2026 Atlanta Jazz Festival This article appears in our May 2026 issue. The post Atlanta Jazz Festival by the numbers appeared first on Atlanta Magazine. ...read more read less