Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2022: tickets, dates lineup including Gregory Porter, free stage details

The Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2022 is in full swing, and this year it has a line-up which is bigger and better than ever.

With the event running into the bank holiday weekend, the festival could make for a great day or two away for Birmingham based jazz fans.

Here’s all you need to know about this year’s festival, including who is performing, how to get tickets, and how to get there.

What is the Cheltenham Jazz Festival?

The festival has become one of the UK’s most popular jazz festivals in recent years, with approximately 20,000 people attending.

A mix of established jazz artists and new, up and coming performers gives the event a blend of everything there is to love about jazz.

Previous guests at the festival include Randy Crawford, Nubya Garcia, Kamasi Washington, Hugh Laurie, Laura Mvula, Eartha Kitt, Caro Emerald, Corinne Bailey Rae, Imelda May and Van Morrison.

When is the Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2022?

The Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2022 sees the festival take place in person for the first time since 2019, prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

The festival got underway on Wednesday, 27 April and is set to conclude on Monday, 2 May; the next bank holiday to take place in the UK.

2022 sees the festival celebrate its 25th anniversary, and to mark the celebration they have an excellent lineup on offer.

Brixton ‘harmonica wizard’ Errol Linton performs on Friday night, with a three course meal included in the £70 ticket price.

Grammy and MOBO award winning star Corinne Bailey Rae will perform at 8pm on Friday, 29 April, with tickets starting at £26.

Pianist Zoe Rahman infuses jazz and her Bangladeshi background, and visitors to the festival will be able to watch her perform at 9.30pm on Friday.

Tickets for her performance cost £18.

Saturday will see a Birmingham influence, with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire joining students from the prestigious Siena Jazz-Accademia Nazionale Del Jazz in Italy to create a programme of wide and varied jazz.

Starting at 11.30am on Saturday, tickets for the event cost £12.

Musical phenomenon Gregory Porter returns for his second year as Cheltenham’s guest Artistic Curator to celebrate the 25th Cheltenham Jazz Festival on Saturday night.

Porter will perform at 9pm, unfortunately tickets for this one have sold out.

Closing the festival on Monday, 2 May is popular jazz artist Jamie Cullum.

Jamie has sold four million albums and has multiple Grammy, Golden Globe and BRIT Awards to his name.

For information and ticket prices of all events at the festival, visit the Cheltenham Festivals website.

Is there a free stage?

On each day of the festival, there is a range of events which are free for festival goers to watch and enjoy.

Located in various areas around Cheltenham, you will be able to take in some of the sights of the iconic spa city whilst exploring what the festival has to offer.

For the full lineup of the free stages for each day of the festival, visit the festival website

How do I get to the festival from Birmingham?

By train

Much of the festival takes place at Montpellier Gardens in Cheltenham, which is a 20 minute walk from Cheltenham Spa train station.

Trains from Birmingham New Street to Cheltenham Spa are direct and run on a regular basis, with a journey time of around 45-55 minutes

By bus

Buses to the square are regular from areas around Cheltenham, including from the train station.

The 94 and 94X buses leave from the train station every 12 minutes on weekdays.

By car

If driving to the festival, the organisers recommend using Cheltenham’s Park and Ride service

This is located at Arle Court (GL51 6SY, near M5 Junction 11) and Cheltenham Racecourse (GL50 4SH). Parking is free, and the service runs every few minutes into the Town Centre; but this varies on Sundays.