About us

About us

jazzahead! Trade Fair

jazzahead! is the must-go event for the international jazz industry and the place for high-quality, contemporary jazz from Germany, Europe and overseas. As the world's largest event where all the protagonists of the scene (musicians, labels, agencies, festival makers, bookers and media representatives) meet, it is considered by professional visitors from all over the world as the "Family Reunion of Jazz".

Despite its steady growth, jazzahead! has managed to keep its family character. jazzahead! is not only a trade fair for trade visitors, but also open to the general public - with a program that once a year turns the Hanseatic city of Bremen into a jazz metropolis.

Since 2015, the jazzahead! funded by the budget of the Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

For Exhibitors

For Professionals

jazzahead! Festival

The jazzahead! Festival, which has been taking place before and during the international jazz meeting since 2011, presents the jazz scene of an annually changing partner country as well as bands from all over the world in the Hanseatic city in cooperation with around 60 regional, national and international cooperation partners. At the trade fair weekend itself, the program will culminate in more than 40 venues with Grand Opening, 38 showcase concerts, CLUBNIGHT and Jazzport.

jazzahead! Visitor Numbers 2025

At the trade fair more than 3.000 delegates from 66 countries were registered

Around 23.000 visitors came to jazzahead! Festival in 2025.

Event Platform / App

jazzahead! 2025 will be hybrid.
The event platform talque gives you the chance to connect with fellow participants, plan your time at jazzahead! and watch some content back on demand. For the 2025 edition, you will receive an onboarding mail after your registration will be activated and you will be asked to answer some questions to tailor the experience for you and give you suggestions who to connect with. This supports the ones coming to Bremen with some additional tool as well as makes it possible to partake in a smaller scale for those, who will attend digital only.

talque works in your browser and in the app.
You can familiarise yourself with talque beforehand here: talque.com/en/talque-knowledge-base.
For further questions in relation to jazzahead!, don’t hesitate to ask Janika Achenbach.

German Jazz Expo

Since 2012, all measures to improve the networking of the German jazz scene in Germany and beyond have been taken under the label German Jazz Expo. In addition to the eight showcase concerts, this includes a central trade fair presence, the German Market.
The German Jazz Expo also includes other program content related to the German jazz scene – e.g. certain panels on topics that are of interest, especially for the German participants.

jazzahead! is funded by the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

German Market
Deutsche Jazzunion special
Prize for German Jazz Journalism
Showcases
Invitation Program

The German Market is the meeting point of the German scene - for club owners, musicians, festival makers and others. It is place to establish and encourage the general promotion of German jazz exports or individual concerns, such as the networking of federal and state activities.

More information on the umbrella stand and the regsitration with discount code: Nina Thomann; +49 (0)421 3505 529.

Especially for the members of the German Jazz Union (Deutsche Jazzunion) jazzahead! offers registrations at a special discount: 95€ plus VAT for a three-day registration for jazzahead! 2026. The special rate only applies for jazz musicians not for supporting members like associations, institutions or companies.

From 2012 until 2019 jazzahead! has awarded the "Prize for German jazz journalism". It was funded by Dr. E.A. Langner Foundation and endowed with 5,000 €. This prize was part of the German Jazz Expo and intended to promote qualified reporting on jazz in the German media. In 2021, the German Jazz Prize established the corresponing award category - "Journalistic Achievement".

Previous awardees:

2012 – Hans-Jürgen Linke
2013 – Ralf Dombrowski
2015 – Wolf Kampmann
2017 – Martin Laurentiu
2019 – Stefan Hentz

Eight of the 38 showcases on the jazzahead! are dedicated to bands from Germany. Find out more here.

Invitation program for international organizers

As part of the German Jazz Expo, the export platform for Jazz made in Germany at jazzahead!, we are again inviting international organizers and program makers to Bremen in 2026. Participants from this sector of the industry receive preferential conditions for participation and, depending on their origin, also a travel allowance. If you are particularly interested in the German jazz scene or would like to recommend someone, who should be part of this program, please write us an email to Nina Thomann.

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Partner Country

jazzahead! is looking forward to partner country Sweden in 2026

Every year in April, the jazzahead! Festival takes place in parallel to the jazzahead! Trade Fair in Bremen. Together with numerous cooperation partners, we organize a city-wide music program around the world's largest meeting place for the jazz scene. In addition to the showcase festival, the program includes the Grand Opening, the Jazzport, the CLUBNIGHT and a fringe program.
In 2026 there will be our anniversary edition celebrating 20 years of jazzahead! as well as the partner country Sweden. From April 23 to April 25 we can observe the jazz szene of this strong music country. Sweden was selected as partner country in order to promote artistic exchange between Sweden and Germany in connection with the important topic of „Green Touring".

Partner Country at the trade fair
Partner Country at the festival
Selection + timeline

THE PARTNER COUNTRY AND ITS JAZZ SCENE WILL BE PRESENTED AT THE FAIR, FOR EXAMPLE DURING THESE OPPORTUNITIES:

Stand and Lounge

The combined space of the partner country stands with the lounge which is adjacent to it are the most central presentation areas at the trade fair.

Showcases

At jazzahead! there will also be 38 showcase concerts, from which 8 are dedicated to the partner country.

Conferences

Industry- and country-specific topics can be presented and discussed here. In the past, the programme ranged from book presentations, panels and talks to target-group-specific workshops.

Opening

For the Grand Opening of jazzahead! trade fair, national and international guests are expected. On stage, official representatives of the partner country (e.g. ambassadors, ministers, state secretaries) will open the trade fair and festival together with the jazzahead! and representatives of Bremen, which is one of the German Länder in its own right.

MUSIC FROM THE JAZZAHEAD! PARTNER COUNTRY IN BREMEN

The partner country Sweden is the focus of next year's jazzahead!, whether in the context of the Grand Opening on wednesday of jazzahead! in CCB, the showcases in Messehalle 7 and the adjacent Kulturzentrum Schlachthof or in the CLUBNIGHT in Bremen's city center.

CHOICE OF THE PARTNER COUNTRY

Since 2011 jazzahead! presents an annually changing partner country in the scope of the fair, but also within a city-wide cultural program aimed at the public in Bremen & region. The partner country is chosen and invited by jazzahead! The highest criterion is an exciting, in part still undiscovered jazz scene, which deserves greater international recognition.

jazzahead! selects its partner countries, applications are not possible. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to project manager Sybille Kornitschky.

2026 | SWEDEN
2025 | SPAIN, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND
2024 | NETHERLANDS
2023 | GERMANY
2022 | CANADA
2019 | NORWAY
2018 | POLAND
2017 | FINNLAND
2016 | SWITZERLAND
2015 | FRANCE
2014| DENMARK
2013 | ISRAEL
2012 | SPAIN
2011 | TURKEY

The partner countries program is organized in cooperation with numerous partners. More information to follow.

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GREEN TOURING TOOL: COOPROG MUSIC

The ecological emergency no longer needs to be proven, and it is imperative to act quickly in all areas of our society to deal with the radical changes we are about to face. Limiting the intensity of the effects of climate change is an absolute priority, so that future generations of European and global citizens can live in a world that is more sustainable.

That's why every professional needs to think about how they can reduce the impact of their work within their own sector. But in a world where economic imperatives do not always allow for reflection, thought, innovation and investment in secondary activities that are not lucrative, these professionals need tools to support them.

That's what the CooProg platform developed by ONDA in 2021 is all about: enabling innovation in professional practices for sustainable programming in the cultural sector.

CooProg is an already existing platform, designed as a free and open source common tool that allow programmers / curators / festival directors to share and identify converging projects, in order to achieve time and geography efficient touring, with the aim to limit the ecological footprint of performing arts. It was put online by the ONDA in September 2023 and is currently only open to the field of performing arts (dance, theatre, object theatre, circus, etc.) in the five countries involved in its development: France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg.

In the realm of the LIVEMX funded project “Green Touring Tool” over a process of twelve months specifications where developed in an experimental and participative process to make the CooProg platform, that was previously only adapted to the live performances field, also usable by professionals from the music sector. In April 2024 jazzahead! and Zone Franche started to examine the platform with the help of thirty programmers from the fields of Improvised Music, Jazz Music and World Music to find out the needs to make it accessible to and usable by the live sector. Over the course of twelve months, an experimental phase with CooProg on a panel of these European professionals was carried out in order to identify the changes needed to open up the tool to the music industry. The programmers / curators / festival directors used the tool over a period of about three months, reported on their experiences and discussed the pros and cons of the tool. This period was punctuated by regular meetings during which we gathered their feedback thanks to the support of two eco-advisors. In the end a charter of needed adaptations was developed for the next phase of the project. The IT development phase aims to bring these recommendations to life as accurately as possible and leads to the official launch of CooProg Music in April at jazzahead! 2025.

Klick here to get to the tool!

To get more information on the tool or if you are interested in having a presentation on the tool (also on conferences etc.) please contact Jakob.