Wangaratta Festival of Jazz

The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz is an annual festival of jazz and blues, founded in 1990 and held in the town of Wangaratta, 2.5 hours from Melbourne in the north-east of Victoria, Australia.

Since its founding the festival has grown to include 90 events and over 350 national and international artists performing each year. The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz also hosts the National Jazz Awards, Youth Jazz Workshops, master classes and events throughout Wangaratta and surrounding wine regions.

In 1999 the festival won a National Tourism Award and was inducted into the Victorian Tourism Hall of Fame. In 2000 the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz became a Victorian Hallmark Event.

History

The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz was conceived in 1989, when a group of local business people suggested the idea to the Wangaratta City Council. The Council funded a feasibility study which concluded that, although there were numerous music festivals in Australia, a point of difference could be achieved with one based on modern and contemporary jazz. It was also recommended that such a festival be built around an international-standard jazz piano competition.

Wangaratta

Wangaratta (/wæŋɡəˈrætə/) is a cathedral city of over 17,000 people in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, approximately 230 km (140 mi) from Melbourne along the Hume Highway.

The city of Benalla is located 45 km (28 mi) to the southwest, and Albury-Wodonga in located 72 km (45 mi) to the northeast of Wangaratta. The city is located at the junction of the Ovens and King rivers, which drain the northwestern slopes of the Victorian Alps. Wangaratta is the administrative centre and most populous city in the Rural City of Wangaratta local government area.

Nomenclature

Historically, there was disagreement about whether the first syllable should be pronounced "Wong" or "Wang". The "Wong" pronunciation was never used by a majority of the population, and never received any wide currency outside the district. It was officially disavowed by the Wangaratta City Council's declaration in favour of the "Wang" pronunciation in the 1980s. Some locals, particularly the elderly, continue to use the "Wong" pronunciation.