As rich as the heritage of Clark College itself, the Clark College Jazz Festival has been host to one of the largest jazz festivals in Southwest Washington for over 50 years! Held the last weekend in January in Gaiser Hall on the beautiful Clark College campus, the 55th Annual Clark College Jazz festival will take place Thursday, Friday and Saturday, January 26-28, 2017.
The festival attracts over 60 middle and high school instrumental jazz ensembles for the three day competitive festival. During the day, groups perform to an esteemed panel of adjudicators made up of renowned jazz educators and performers for the privilege of returning to perform in the evening finals competition where they will be ranked for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. On the final evening of the festival, one band from the entire festival is selected to receive the coveted Sweepstakes Trophy, a tradition which has been passed down since 1963.
Check the 2017 Festival Schedule for the daily start and finish times as well as the evening finals times. The Clark College Jazz Ensemble performs at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, 11:40 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Friday, and at 12:20 p.m. on Saturday. The previous year’s Sweepstakes Band holds the spotlight on Saturday evening at 9:00 p.m.
General admission to the festival is $5 per day. Clark College students and children under 12 accompanied by an adult will be admitted free of charge. For more information, visit Clark College Jazz Festival online.
Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Gaiser Hall is located on the northwest corner of the main campus on Fort Vancouver Way, between McLoughlin Blvd. and Fourth Plain Blvd. General admission should enter through the North entrance by the Book Store or the South entrance and participating bands should enter through the West entrance of Gaiser Hall.
