August 2025 Officially Proclaimed as “Wisconsin Jazz Festival Month”
August 1, 2025 – (Milwaukee, WI) – August is officially “Wisconsin Jazz Festival Month,” as proclaimed by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on August 1, 2025. Milwaukee’s Fresh Coast Jazz Festival, produced by Carl Brown, is the sixth annual and will take place at the Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee August 21-23rd and featuring Gerald Albright and Kayla Waters among others.
“We are grateful to Governor Evers for recognizing the value the Fresh Coast Jazz Festival and the many other Wisconsin jazz festival bring to the lives of Wisconsin residents and visitors,” said Carl Brown, chief executive officer and founder of the Fresh Coast Jazz Festival. “We plan to keep this truly American art form thriving in Wisconsin and beyond for decades to come.”
Kicking off with the inaugural Door County Jazz Festival on August 4th, offering live jazz across the Door County Peninsula culminating in a Centennial Celebration to jazz greats Oscar Peterson, June Christy and Cal Tjader at Martin Park in Sturgeon Bay on August 9th “Under the Sturgeon Moon.” The month of August continues with the Fresh Coast Jazz Festival in Milwaukee on August 21-23rd, Jazz And Art Festival in Eau Claire on August 21-23rd, the Oshkosh Jazz Festival on August 23rd, the Fox Jazz Fest in Menasha on August 30-31st and Riverfront Jazz Fest in Stevens Point on August 30-31st.
“Each year we aim to make the festival better, and I feel like we have done that again,” said Carl Brown. “This year’s lineup features some of the legends of the genre and great shows from some of the most uniquely talented artists in music. It is a weekend of phenomenal music, awesome experiences and great fun!”
Erin Boehme leads the charge at Oshkosh’s Jazz Festival and will bring in New York City’s Emmet Cohen and Benny Bennack III for a day-long festival in downtown Oshkosh. The Door County Jazz Festival features award-winning ensembles such as Precarious Towers and the Milwaukee Jazz Institute Quintet, plus acclaimed pianist Johannes Wallman, vocalist Staci Griesbach and Mitchell Shiner’s Latin Vibes honoring the festival’s theme of “Celebrating Centennial Stars Under the Sturgeon Moon.” Fox Jazz Fest, founded by John Harmon and other community members more than 30 years ago, brings in acclaimed pianist Benny Green, who was a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. The two-day festival in Menasha also includes Nicholas Payton, the Isaiah J. Thompson Quartet and Janet Planet. Stevens Point’s Riverfront Jazz Fest also takes place on Labor Day weekend and is the largest jazz festival in Central Wisconsin. Central Wisconsin and Fox Valley’s Jazz Coterie also will bring in performers throughout the upcoming months including Sarah Hanahan (Aug), Paul Cornish and Michael Mayo (Sept) and pianist-vocalist Champian Fulton (Oct).
For more information, please visit the festivals’ websites, sign up for email newsletters and follow on social media for the latest updates during Wisconsin’s 2025 Jazz Festival Season.
createportagecounty.org/jazzfest
About Fresh Coast Jazz Festival
Fast gaining a reputation as one of the top jazz festivals in the country, the Fresh Coast Jazz Festival is Milwaukee’s only multi-day jazz festival featuring the world’s best contemporary jazz artists. The festival draws fans from across the United States and several countries, and blends the world’s top contemporary jazz artists, with uniquely fun events and festival proceeds go to support scholarships, school music programs, and healthcare initiatives.
The 2025 festival brings an unbelievable mix of some of the most popular smooth jazz superstars and the hottest young talent in the genre to the fresh coast. This year’s festival will take place at the historic Pabst Theater in downtown Milwaukee from August 21 – August 23. For more information, visit: www.freshcoastjazz.com or www.pabsttheatergroup.com.
Find more press releases HERE.