mjf is more than a festival it is part of cultural heart of Manchester – it entertains and nurtures new talent, it tells stories and brings people together. mjf relies on public subsidy, which cannot be guaranteed; your support ensures we can continue to bring world-class free events to Manchester every single year, including:
Our 10 day jazz festival introducing the very best genre-pushing acts: including our strong international lineup allowing artists from across Europe to make their UK debut
Our Free to Access Opening Festival Weekend at First Street: 2 stages, 20+ homegrown bands + 10K + attendees
Our City Wide Piano Trail: 16 free to access pianos placed in high footfall areas across Manchester city centre (& beyond!)
mjf exists to keep jazz alive by supporting the next generation of artists to create and experiment. Your donation would ensure we can continue to platform artists via our three talent development opportunities:
Soundcheckexists to support locally based musicians (aged 18-29) at the start of their journey into the world of jazz
Hothouseexists to support more established artists facing significant barriers within their practise
Originals exists to platform new, innovative, major jazz commissions for up and coming creatives across the sector
Mali Hayes (c) Rina Srabonian
Ubunye (c) Mark Lear
Ladies of the Midnight Blue (c) Rina Srabonian
We continue to enjoy a fruitful relationship with many of our talent development alumni with many of our artists going on to play our festival stages. mjf was also the first festival to launch an open artists’ submission system and this still informs our programme today. Videographer: Mallique Reece
Through mjf futures, jazz is accessible to all, on our stages during the festival, in our community work across greater Manchester and through our amazing team of young artists and promotors.
Our Volunteer Programme existsto provide the local community with an opportunity to become a vital part of our festival and, over the years, has given many their first step into the music sector
Our Youth Advisory Boardexists to recognise the challenges and barriers that young people wishing to enter the music profession face in accessing opportunities, networking and youth-led spaces
Festival Volunteer mjf2026 (c) Lucy Craig
Our Festival Volunteers
Our Festival Volunteers
Without your support, all this will be lost:
Young people won’t be able to experience jazz on the streets of Manchester
Young and emerging musicians won’t have as many performance opportunities
Opportunities to experiment and create new work will disappear
Donate today and become part of mjf futures:
£50 helps tune our festival pianos
£100 supports an emerging local band to debut at the festival
£250 supports one of our Youth Advisory Board members to shadow mjf staff and learn new skills
£500 supports one of our mjf originals commissioned artists to create new work
Benefits include:
Personal dedication on the mjf website (for donations of £500 or more)
Your donation, however big or small, will make a real difference to our small yet mighty festival.
If you are a UK taxpayer remember to tick the Gift Aid box so we can reclaim tax from the Government and add an extra 25% onto your donation.
mjf donations
Gift Aid
Gift Aid is a government scheme that allows us to reclaim the basic rate tax you pay as a UK taxpayer. It means that we can claim 25p of tax for every £1 you donate at no extra cost to you. All you need to do is make a Gift Aid declaration.
This is my own money, I am a UK taxpayer and understand that if I pay less income tax in the current tax year than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on my donations it is my responsibility to pay any difference. Gift Aid is claimed by manchester jazz festival from the tax you pay for the current tax year. The money that we claim back from HMRC as part of the Gift Aid scheme will be treated as unrestricted funds and used to support our general work, even if your original donation was made towards a specific project.
If you wish to use an alternative payment method to donate to mjf, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us via festival@manchesterjazz.com