Jazz Port Townsend
A week-long workshop and public festival held inside Fort Worden State Park on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, run by the arts nonprofit Centrum. The 2026 program ran July 20-26.
- City
- Port Townsend
- Where
- Port Townsend, Washington
- When
- Late July
Centrum has run Jazz Port Townsend from its campus at 223 Battery Way inside Fort Worden State Park, and the event is built as an immersive week for roughly 160 instrumentalists and singers from across the United States, about half of them under 20. Scholarships are offered so that cost does not gate participation, and the teaching faculty is drawn from working professionals — John Clayton has served as artistic director.
The public side of the week is genuine festival programming, not just student recitals: club-style sets in town on Wednesday and Thursday, then mainstage concerts on Friday and Saturday in the McCurdy Pavilion, the converted balloon hangar inside the fort. In 2026 those mainstage concerts fell on July 24 and 25. The Fort Worden setting — a decommissioned coastal artillery post turned state park — is what most distinguishes the festival physically from anything else in the region.
No shows in our listings yet
We don't have any Jazz Port Townsend shows in our listings yet (its program is usually announced shortly before each edition). In the meantime, explore all our live jazz shows.
Where to stay for Jazz Port Townsend
Hotels and apartments around Port Townsend. Prices shown are for one night; you can widen the dates on the map.
Frequently asked questions
- When does Jazz Port Townsend take place?
- Jazz Port Townsend takes place in Port Townsend in late july. The exact dates for each edition can vary, so it's worth confirming them on the official website.
- Where is Jazz Port Townsend held?
- It takes place in Port Townsend (Port Townsend, Washington).
- How do I follow the program and get tickets?
- At Jazz Live US we publish its shows in our Calendar listings as they are confirmed, and for the full line-up and tickets you can check the festival's official website. If you join Jazz Live US, we'll let you know when the line-up is announced.
The exact dates for each edition can vary. Check the festival's official website to confirm the line-up and tickets.