Established in 2017 to promote collaboration and diversity in the jazz scene, DJAZZ offered a fresh take on the festival format. The Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to the 4th and 5th editions of the festival and we took the decision to go on indefinite hiatus. Utilising a range of venues and pop-up spaces our aim to find new ways to celebrate the genre and reach new audiences. As such the festival w
as different year on year, shifting and adapting in response to the city, the scene and our ever changing list of partners and collaborators. This different take on the festival format introduced a truly collaborative and accessible platform for jazz in Durham. In 2017 AT THE ROOT (Heather Spencer) and Empty Shop CIC, combined efforts to pull together all the threads of the jazz scene in the region. Merging their own respective jazz outputs (The Empty Shop Jazz Sessions and Durham University Jazz Society 2016-17 respectively) and allowing space to work with other initiatives, this partnership approach allowed for a truly flexible and responsive event. It is from this foundation that the festival grew, working with the City as a whole and a whole host of partners & collaborators.
