In April 2026: jazzahead! will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary

Over two decades, jazzahead! has become established as one of the most important platforms for future jazz headliners to become visible internationally. Bands can apply from now until 8 October at jazzahead.de/showcases/ for one of the 38 coveted concert slots.

Thousands of visitors and professionals from the jazz industry (booking, management, labels and more) will make their way to Bremen to attend the top quality programme of showcase concerts which starts on 23 April.

jazzahead! is currently putting together five international juries to go through a meticulous process to select the best acts from all over the world, including eight from Germany and eight from partner country Sweden.

The period for showcase applications for jazzahead! 2026 starts on 1 September and ends on 8 October. At the same time, registration for professionals begins – they can already start to use jazzahead’s online network once registration has been done.

Götz Bühler, artistic advisor to jazzahead!, says of the special focus for 2026: ‘Sweden as our partner country, it’s long overdue. Starting with Jan Johansson, through E.S.T. to Goran Kajfes and Mats Gustafsson and beyond, a vibrant and independent scene has developed. There is no single thing that can be called “Swedish jazz” – it is the kaleidoscopic diversity which makes it so exciting.’

20 years of jazzahead! – an eventful journey
‘It all started with six evening concerts at Congress Centrum Bremen,’ recalls Sybille Kornitschky, who has run jazzahead! right from the beginning. ‘The trade fair just about filled the foyer of the hall. And there weren’t really exhibition stands yet; what I remember above all is a few trestle tables. In 2006, we hadn’t yet made any distinction between trade participants and concertgoers. There were about 900 guests and they mostly came from Germany.’

Today, jazzahead! is the world’s leading industry event in the jazz sector, with around 3,000 trade participants from over 60 nations. ’Back then, none of us would have dared to hope for that,’ says Kornitschky.

‘In parallel with this has gone the steady expansion of a city-wide festival designed to appeal to a broad audience. In 2025, over 20,000 visitors came to the city of Bremen.

‘jazzahead! has developed and grown steadily, and in its own completely unique way. For this we have to thank our partners at federal and state level who have supported us right from the beginning. The media have also supported us since we started – from Radio Bremen for ARD to numerous specialist magazines. Today, 140 to 170 accredited journalists report on the event annually, around half of these come from abroad.’

And there is more good news: the jazzahead.de website has been given a revamp to make navigation accessible for all, as well as a fresh redesign.

jazzahead! begins on 22 April 2026 with the Grand Opening Concert. jazzahead! 2026 will culminate on the evening of 25 April, when the German Jazz Prize awards ceremony, a key event in the national jazz calendar, returns to Bremen.

Sybille Kornitschky and Götz Bühler are available for interviews, notably on the topic of the first 20 years of jazzahead!

Apply for Press Accreditation HERE: https://jazzahead.de/press/#accreditation

You can download images from the following links:

Photo 1: jazzahead! 2026 Keyvisual

Photo 2: Stand of the Swedish Jazz Export Office at jazzahead! 2025 © M3B GmbH/Jan Rathke

Photo 3: Exhibition hall 6 during jazzahead! 2025 © M3B GmbH/Jan Rathke

More information:

MESSE BREMEN · M3B GmbH

Jan Paersch | T +49 173 3250836

press@jazzahead.de

Web: jazzahead.de

www.messe-bremen.de