But What Goes Into Preparing Before Jazz Festival Begins?
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — The 37th Annual Syracuse Jazz Festival is back!
But before having fun and enjoying the music, a lot of preparations come into play. The city of Syracuse does not provide any funds for the festival. As the president of Visit Syracuse Danny Liedka explained, all the expenses are on the shoulders of the Jazz Fest, plus the county and other corporate sponsors have been their major financial supporters.
“The city provides law enforcement and sanitation, but it comes at a cost,” said Liedka. “They [Jazz Fest organizers] pay for that. It’s not free. As far as stage construction and things of that nature, that’s all on Jazz Fest to make that happen.”
Speaking of stage construction, not only money but a lot of physical labor is required from the crew. Here is how Jeremy Burton described his past 24 hours as a construction worker.
“Yesterday, we built the roof that’s here, the blue and all the trusses. And then we put the decks on the stage today,” said Burton. “We’re doing all the hanging, all the lights and doing the banners. And then after that, we have to do barricades. So, we put up barricades so people can’t get over to the stage.”
After all this hard work from hundreds of people, it is time to officially enjoy the festival!
Syracuse Jazz Fest will run from Wednesday, June 21, to Sunday, June 25, with performances at multiple venues, including headliners Herbie Hancock (Friday, June 23) and Gladys Knight (Saturday, June 24) on the Amazon Stage at Clinton Square. Other performers include Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, Tower of Power, and Spyro Gyra, plus a slew of local artists throughout the week.
To find out more information about the Jazz Fest, go to www.syracusejazzfest.com .