42nd BELGRADE JAZZ FESTIVAL 2026

October 6, 2026

5 min read

October 21–24, 2026 — Belgrade Youth Center

The Belgrade Jazz Festival, Serbia’s oldest and internationally most acclaimed jazz event, returns for its 42nd edition with an outstanding programme showcasing the most exciting currents in contemporary jazz. From October 21 to 24, 2026, the Belgrade Youth Center will host 13 concerts by leading international artists, followed by a final jam session.

The festival’s visual identity features a stylised trumpet at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers beneath the Belgrade Fortress, inspiring this year’s slogan: “Jazz Confluence.” Indeed, Belgrade has been a true confluence for more than half a century, bringing together some of the genre’s greatest heroes from around the world, as well as the extraordinary diversity of styles that collectively define jazz.

For the first time in the history of the Belgrade Jazz Festival, the festival’s headline star comes from the world of blues — Ana Popović. It is also the first time that the festival’s biggest star is an artist from Serbia, for very good reason. Ana is the most successful Serbian popular music artist of all time. Throughout her career, she has received ten Blues Award nominations — essentially the Oscars of the blues community — headlined major blues festivals around the world and appeared on the covers of prestigious blues and guitar magazines.

This year, Ana celebrates her 50th birthday and 25 years since her solo debut, Hush, while Belgrade’s blues scene celebrates its 45th anniversary. Interestingly, some of her first major performances took place precisely at the Belgrade Youth Center, at the legendary St. James club and at the Marsona Blues Festival — exactly 30 years ago.

Her opening-night concert also evokes the festival’s editions in the 1970s, when legendary blues artists including B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Albert King and Memphis Slim performed there. It is the perfect moment for our own blues heroine to continue this extraordinary tradition.

The selection of American acts reflects the diversity of today’s genre in the country where it was born.

Among them, particular attention is drawn to The Messthetics, a trio rooted in the legendary alternative rock band Fugazi, whose members include bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty. The sharp-edged post-punk trio is joined, in an unexpected and compelling collaboration, by 2025’s leading jazz musician — tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, who also impressed Belgrade audiences during his previous appearance.

The embrace of rock and jazz brings powerful grooves, uncompromising solos and a fiery live performance — undoubtedly heralding one of the major jazz events of the season in Belgrade.

The American programme also features trumpeter Rob Mazurek in the Chicago Underground Duo, alongside drummer Chad Taylor; Marquis Hill, winner of the Thelonious Monk Competition and named the greatest talent among trumpeters by DownBeat in 2016; and the Arun Ramamurthy Trio, whose music creates a hypnotic fusion of South Indian Carnatic tradition and jazz fusion.

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, photo: Shervin Lainez

EUROPEAN JAZZ — THE BEST OF THE BEST

As always, the European selection brings “the best of the best” from countries with which the festival has built long-standing partnerships.

Saxophonist Tino Tracanna, who previously made a strong impression as a member of Paolo Fresu’s quintet, presents “Panorchestra,” named Italy’s best jazz album by critics through the prestigious Top Jazz awards. The octet, featuring six wind players, combines the New Orleans tradition with Italian musical romanticism, organically bringing together seemingly distant musical worlds.

The European “jazz national team” also features the superstar duo of Spanish pianist Daniel García and Swiss vocalist Andreas Schaerer. Pianist João Paulo Esteves da Silva and his quartet will present País Distante, the second-place finisher among Portugal’s 2025 jazz releases.

The programme will also introduce some of the most exciting young talents in Polish jazz: Akimbo made a strong impression at last year’s Central European Jazz Showcase in Brno, while JuMa stood out at the Jazz Juniors competition in Kraków.

THE BEST OF SERBIAN JAZZ

The selection from Serbia’s jazz scene brings together leading musicians from the middle and younger generations.

The opening night will feature the world premiere of Vladimir Nikolov’s new programme, “History Now.” The music of his nonet draws inspiration from the rich history of jazz while interpreting it through the language of the present.

Trumpeter Ivan Radivojević will premiere the complete repertoire from his second album, Not Quite Sun, Not Quite the Moon, a fusion of contemporary New York jazz and Scandinavian melancholy.

Young baritone saxophonist Đorđe Kujundžić combines Latin rhythms with blues, Balkan folk traditions and the cabaret spirit of Kurt Weill and Tom Waits.

Over four days of another great celebration of jazz in Belgrade, blues, bebop, post-punk, hip-hop, R&B, neo-soul, flamenco, Latin and funk converge within this unique jazz confluence — alongside both mainstream and avant-garde approaches.

Twelve of the festival’s acts will be performing in Belgrade for the first time, giving this edition a particular sense of discovery.

The diversity of their musical approaches offers an exciting portrait of the contemporary jazz moment, once again establishing the Belgrade Jazz Festival as an oasis of good taste within Serbia’s cultural landscape.

TICKETS

A limited number of festival passes for the 42nd Belgrade Jazz Festival — valid for eight concerts in the main programme beginning at 7 PM — are available at the eFinity box office at the Belgrade Youth Center.

Individual tickets for all concerts are available at all eFinity ticket outlets and online.

The founder and patron of the Belgrade Jazz Festival is the City of Belgrade, which designated the festival as an event of special importance in 2007.

The festival is organised by the Belgrade Youth Center.

Patrons of the 42nd Belgrade Jazz Festival: City of Belgrade — City Administration — Secretariat for Culture; Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia.

Friends of the 42nd Belgrade Jazz Festival: SOKOJ and DPC Networks.

Supported by: Italian Institute of Culture in Belgrade, Instituto Cervantes, Embassy of Portugal and Instituto Camões, Zbigniew Seifert Foundation, Mid Atlantic Arts.

Creative concept and visual identity: McCann Belgrade.

The Belgrade Jazz Festival is, by invitation, a member of the Europe Jazz Network.