Festival generates £1m for city, say organisers

An annual jazz festival in Birmingham generates £1m for the city's economy every year, according to its manager.

Mostly Jazz, Funk and Soul Festival brought 3,000 music lovers to Moseley Park from 11 to 13 July as they watched headliners Ezra Collective, War and Maribou State.

Festival manager John Fell said a record number of people attended the sold-out event this year, which supported a range of local businesses from hotels to food traders.

"We always try and promote the local economy, and businesses always say that over this weekend their revenue streams really go up," he said.

The event has been held since 2010, starting off as a two-day spin-off from Moseley Folk Festival with headliners Sun Ra Arkestra and Courtney Pine.

It aimed to provide a platform for local talent alongside international acts, with between 1,000 and 1,500 people attending each day.

Director Gerv Havill said he never expected it to become so popular as audiences travelled from the UK, Europe and the US to attend the festival every year.

"Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul Festival is now firmly cemented in the city's cultural calendar," he said.

One of the traders selling food at the festival was Sean McCabe, who runs the meatball food stall The StreetBaller. He described the event as one of the "highlights" of his year.

"Being a local lad where the population of Kings Heath and Moseley are there, it's a fantastic place to be," he said.

Since Mr McCabe set up his business in 2024, he has sold food at venues across the Midlands and hopes to expand his customer base in the future.

He said that there was a real "sense of community" while selling food at the festival, as local traders supported each other and worked together.

"I had good sales over the whole weekend and lots of people visited who hadn't come before," he said.

The Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath has been hosting official parties after the festival finishes each night most years since the event began in 2010.

Co-owner Matt Leftfoot said the pub always sees hundreds of people attending, with tickets sold out on Friday.

While the afterparties are held at its club venue upstairs, other festival-goers come in late at night for a casual drink downstairs.

Over the years, the pub has hosted DJs like Goldie, Herbert, Gilles Peterson and Craig Charles at its afterparties.

"We can wholeheartedly say it has a really positive impact on the local economy. It's very much a family affair, community-driven event," he said.

The Bournbrook Inn in Stirchley said that the festival was a "good thing" to have locally, as it brought in extra customers to its hotel every year.

It has 53 rooms which are "always full" during the event, as the hotel sees a 10% rise in bookings compared to a normal weekend.

"We get in more staff to look after the hotel; there are definitely benefits of the festival," the pub said.

Artists like Ezra Collective stayed at the hotel over the weekend while performing at the festival while other rooms were open so artists could use the showers in between performances.

"We're happy to host any guests; it's nice for the staff to have the artists but it's also quite low-key," the pub said.

Mostly Jazz, Funk and Soul Festival is set to run in 2026 from 10 to 12 July, and artists could be announced at the end of the year.

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