Umbria Jazz Festival 2018

Everything You Need to Know About Umbria Jazz Festival 2026.

Umbria Jazz Festival is one of the most popular jazz festivals in the world, that is held annually in Perugia. The 2018 edition will take place between 13 and 22 July.

The first edition was held in 1973. Since then, every year, in July, it hosts concerts of Italian and foreigner famous jazz players, and in the last years it also opened its doors to the leading figures of other musical genres.

The wide appeal of the event attracts people and crowds in the main squares of the city, creating an evocative atmosphere, especially in Piazza IV Novembre, where Fontana Maggiore and the other monuments are the background of the musical show.

Some of the best artists who have taken part in Umbria Jazz Festival are B.B. King (in 1982, 1993, 2004 and 2009), Burt Bacharach (in 2009, 2015 and 2016), Chet Baker (in 1976), Tony Bennett (in 1996, 1998, 2007 and 2015), James Brown (in 2003 and 2006), Eric Clapton (in 2006), Natalie Cole (in 2000), Phil Collins (in 1996), Chick Corea (in 2002, 2006 and 2009), Miles Davis (in 1985), Lady Gaga (in 2015), Dizzy Gillespie (in 1976), Al Jarreau (in 1996 and 2007), Elton John (in 2005), Alicia Keys (in 2008), Pat Metheny (in 1999, 2002 and 2007), Sting (in 1987), Prince (in 2011) and many others.

For the 2018 edition, three of the artists who will perform are already announced – the American jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, the English trip-hop group Massive Attack and the Scottish-American musician David Byrne.