City of Derry Jazz Festival hailed a major success

The final notes sounded yesterday (Monday, 6th May) on the 12th City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival, bringing to a close what was undoubtedly the biggest and best musical extravaganza to date. Over 35,000 music lovers took to the streets in pursuit of the perfect medley of music on the Guinness Jazz Trail, which this year featured over 80 venues and over 200 musicians. Bars, hotels and restaurants were packed to the rafters over the course of the five day event, as people flocked to enjoy the huge selection of entertainment on offer - 90% of which was free thanks to the support of sponsors Diageo. Speaking afterwards the Mayor, Kevin Campbell, said the festival was just the first highlight in an amazing line up of events in the city's summer cultural programme.

"I'm thrilled at how well the Festival went this year," he said. "The feedback so far has been phenomenal, and it all went just as well as we had expected. Of course we have a whole host of events coming up over the next few months as part of the City of Culture programme, from One Big Weekend to the Fleadh Cheoil. And if we use this as an indicator of the level of interest in all that's going on Derry, then we're looking at an extremely exciting summer.

"Once again Derry people came out in their droves to support the festival, and we had a huge influx of visitors here to enjoy what has to be the city's favourite entertainment event. I must thank all who were involved in making this happen, once again we were treated to an outstanding programme featuring some of the finest talent around. "

The line-up featured a diversity of talent with The Overtones, Beverley Craven, The Soul Rebels, Dana Masters and The Puppini Sisters among some of the big names who had people on their feet for five days of dancing and fun.

The event was organised by Derry City Council in conjunction with Diageo, and speaking on behalf of Diageo NI, Barney McCann said: "The festival has been a resounding success, and the atmosphere throughout the city has been unbelievable over the past few days. We've a had a long association with the festival, which has such an impact on the local economy, and which always kicks of the summer season for local vintners. "Congratulations to all those involved, and a big thank you to everyone who came along and lent their support to such an important local cultural event."

The City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival is arranged for you by Derry City Council in association with the UK City of Culture 2013 team, with funding from Diageo and support from NITB and Airporter.