53rd International Dixieland Festival

In May every year, a strange fever is noticeable in Dresden. Anyone who spends time in the city is infected in no time at all. Fighting back is futile. There is no need to consult a doctor. Anyone can cure themselves. The medicine is simple and has been tried and tested for many years. It bears the well-known name: Dixieland.

The INTERNATIONAL DIXIELAND FESTIVAL 2025 is in the starting blocks. On 18 October 2024, tickets will go on sale for the 53rd edition of the world's largest and oldest music festival for traditional jazz, which will take place from 10 to 18 May 2025 in Dresden. Dixieland fans - whether jazz experts, families with children, lindy hop and swing dancers or people with disabilities - can once again look forward to a diverse programme with a top-class line-up of 13 international and 26 national bands and solo artists. There will be 250 hours of music in 48 events - around half of which will be free of charge.

The Sächsische Festival Vereinigung e.V. (SFV), the organiser of the festival, will remain true to its programme in the coming year and continue to follow the path it has successfully taken since 2023 of bringing a breath of fresh air to the festival alongside tried-and-tested programme items and cherished traditions - with new event formats, young bands, new musical offerings and new venues.

While the programme will of course include the big family festival Dixieland in Familie to kick off the festival at Dresden Zoo, the unique Riverboat Shuffle with the ships of the White Fleet on the Elbe and the ever-popular Dixie ABC, there will be some changes and innovations in the coming year. The Kaufpark in Dresden-Nickern, the Löwensaal Dresden in a former bank building from 1905 on Dr.-Külz-Ring, the Tante JU club in the industrial area and the Ballsäle Coßmannsdorf in Freital will be new venues.

The Dixieland premiere at the Tante JU club will be organised by Swing'it. The Norwegians, who were acclaimed by the Dresden audience at their festival debut in 2023, will be touring Europe next year with their "1923 Prohibition Party" and will be stopping off in Dresden as part of the International Dixieland Festival.

The Löwensaal Dresden will in turn be the venue for the big Dresden birthday concert, which the Elb Meadow Ramblers will be giving together with the Blue Wonder Jazzband to celebrate their 70th anniversary and 50th band anniversary. The high-calibre Dixieland International concert will also be moving to the Löwensaal. Blues, Boogie & Swing is also moving to the Ballsäle Coßmannsdorf in Freital. And following the great success of the premiere, there will be two living room concerts in Hoppes Hoftheater in Dresden-Weißig next year.

And who will be playing at these concerts? International bands such as the aforementioned Swing'it (Norway), Blue Mockingbirds (Belgium), Le petit Orléans (France), Ladyva (Switzerland) and Nils Conrad and his Amazing Jazzband (Netherlands) are among others on the 2025 line-up. The South West Oldtime All Stars, who have been centred around multi-award-winning jazz trumpeter Martin Auer since 2018, also promise a first-class sound experience. The line-up is rounded off by numerous national bands such as Time Rag Department (Berlin) or Sunshine Brass (Suhl) and local formations such as the Thomas Stelzer Gospel Crew or the TU Bigband.