The Hoboken Girl Team 
One of the largest jazz festivals in the Tri-State area is returning next week. The Jersey City Jazz Festival, hosted by local non-profit Riverview Jazz, will kick off on Tuesday, May 27th and run through Saturday, May 31st. The event will be complete with various live music performances and hundreds of jazz musicians at the Exchange Plaza plaza on the Hudson River waterfront. Read on for more details about the 2025 Jersey City Jazz Festival in New Jersey.
2025 Festival Details
The 12th annual Jersey City Jazz Festival — presented by Riverview Jazz and the Exchange Place Alliance — will take place from Tuesday, May 27th through Saturday, May 31st. The events during the week (which will take place at various JC locations) lead up to the two main festival days on May 30th and 31st at Exchange Plaza plaza. There will be 30 performances in total, and the festival is a free event with one ticketed stage (Clubhouse by Ford’s Gin) as well as VIP options.
Photo Credit: Riverview Jazz
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“The whole goal of the Jersey City Jazz Festival is to bring the community together and collectively experience all this incredible music we are surrounded by,” festival organizer Bryan Beninghove shared with The Hoboken Girl. “We live in an unparalleled location that many of the greatest musicians in the world call home, it’s just an honor to get a bunch of us together each year to celebrate the music and have a great party.”
The schedule is as follows — some events are free, while other require tickets:
Tuesday, May 27th
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- Champian Fulton at Junto Attic Bar, 6PM-8PM
- John Hébert at Pet Shop, 8PM-11PM
Wednesday, May 28th
- Lezlie Harrison at Junto Attic Bar, 6PM-8PM
- Go Bailers at The Archer, 7PM-10PM
- Tim Bern at Pet Shop, 8PM-11PM
Thursday, May 29th
- James Austin Jr. at Brennan Court House, 6PM-9PM
- Milkman + Sons at The Archer, 7PM-10PM
- Kali Rodriquez Peña at The Statuary, 7PM-10PM
- Riverview Jazz All Stars at The Rooftop on Pacific (902 Brewery), 7PM-10PM
Friday, May 30th
- Hyatt Regency Happy Hour Featuring Orion Turre, 4:30PM-6:30PM
- Winard Harper + Jeli Posse at RWJBarnabas Health Plaza Stage, 6PM-7PM
- DJ Set by Niko + Bad Habits at RWJBarnabas Health Plaza Stage, 7PM-8PM
- The Rumble featuring Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. at RWJBarnabas Health Plaza Stage, 8PM-9:30PM
- Official JCJF Jam Session featuring Charlie Sigler on the terrace at Hyatt House, 9PM-1AM
Saturday, May 31st
- WBGO Next Gen Collective at The Clubhouse by Ford’s Gin, 1PM-2PM
- Artemis at The Clubhouse by Ford’s Gin, 3PM-4PM
- Hébert-Hersch-Wallace-Drummond Bridge + Tunnel at The Clubhouse by Ford’s Gin, 5PM-6PM
- Tyreek McDole at The Clubhouse by Ford’s Gin, 7PM-8PM
- Riverview Jazz All-Stars at RWJBarnabas Health Plaza Stage, 12PM-1PM
- Sam Barsh featuring Harry Mack at RWJBarnabas Health Plaza Stage, 2PM-3PM
- Honk Family Band from Plaza to the Pier at RWJBarnabas Health Plaza Stage, 3PM-3:45PM
- Sounds of April + Randall at RWJBarnabas Health Plaza Stage, 4PM-5PM
- Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra featuring Catherine Russell at RWJBarnabas Health Plaza Stage, 6PM-7PM
- Astoria Salsa Company at RWJBarnabas Health Plaza Stage, 8PM-9PM
- United Children’s Music Project (UCMP) Latin Ensemble at Exchange Place Alliance Pier Stage, 1:30PM-2:30PM
- New Jersey City University (NJCU) Jazz Ensemble at Exchange Place Alliance Pier Stage, 3:45PM-4:30PM
- Swing Dance Lesson at Exchange Place Alliance Pier Stage, 4:30PM-5PM
- Robert Edwards Big Band at Exchange Place Alliance Pier Stage, 5PM-6PM
- Salsa/Mambo Dance Lesson at Exchange Place Alliance Pier Stage, 7PM
- Jersey City Free Public Library Community Zone, 12PM-4:30PM
- After Party on the Terrace at Hyatt House, 9PM-1AM
Sunday, June 1st
- Closing Party at Moore’s Lounge, 7PM
See the full schedule on Riverview Jazz’s website here.
About Riverview Jazz
Riverview Jazz is a Jersey City-based 501(c)(3) non-profit that began in 2013 as a community concert at the Riverview Farmers’ Market. The nonprofit is dedicated to “building a self-sustaining audience for the arts by presenting various forms of Jazz to the community in a combination of traditional and non-traditional spaces,” per its website. In a few short years, Riverview Jazz was producing up to 100 events a year, free to the public. In 2019, the Riverview Jazz Festival rebranded as the Jersey City Jazz Festival and drew a crowd of 30,000 attendees, making it one of the largest jazz festivals in the NYC Tri-State area.
See More: The Annual Montclair Jazz Festival is Returning for 2025: Dates + Details
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