The 2008 Coleman Hawkins Legacy Jazz Festival!

The Coleman Hawkins Legacy Jazz Festival heads into 2008 with a brilliant 2007 Festival under its belt. Hawkfest thanks its great friends and venue host of the last three festivals, Harley-Davidson of Topeka. Harley-Davidson and owners Mike and Cathy Patterson provided a great setting and generous support for Hawkfest to grow into a recognized major regional jazz festival. Hawkfest 2007 was able to raise over $7,000 for its charity recipient, Marian Clinic. Headliners Poncho Sanchez, Marcia Ball, and Javon Jackson raved about the Festival and asked to come back again in the future.

Hawkfest 2008 brings some big changes, including a new venue at the Kansas Expocentre grounds. The new location will provide plenty of room on the large grassy area at the South end, plenty of free parking, a larger stage and Main Tent, and a Food Court, sponsored by Topeka’s own Brick Oven Courtyard Grille. They will be offering terrific barbeque and other great food, as well as beer and wine. And of course, there will be other vendors you will enjoy and a Hawkfest Merchandise Tent that will offer mementos of the Festival as well as original art for sale via Silent Auction. The Hawkfest 2008 rain venue and After Parties site will be the Hill’s Festival Hall at Topeka Performing Arts Center, which ably hosted Latin Jazz night last year when the rains came. As in previous Festivals, a free shuttle will run between the Mulvane Mountain-Plains Art Fair at Washburn and the Festival site. The pick-up location will be well-marked and near the entrance to the Festival.

The 2008 Festival will be better than ever! Friday’s Latin Jazz Night will feature the world’s most famous Brazilian Jazz artists, The Flora Purim and Airto Moreira Band. Saturday will feature two national headliners, the legendary Sam Rivers Quartet (Sam actually played with Coleman Hawkins) and the high energy and immensely entertaining and talented fusion group, Garaj Mahal. The Sunday headliner will be the modern New Orleans street shuffle and second-line band, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who just might move among the crowd during their performance!

The charity recipient for this year’s Festival will be Kansas Children’s Service League, an organization with roots in Topeka and who provides much-needed services to Kansas children and families. Please give generously when the buckets are passed. As always, Hawkfest remains free of admission and is open to everyone. We thank our generous corporate and individual sponsors for making this great event possible, a true gift to the community. If you need accommodations during the Festival, the Capitol Plaza Hotel (adjacent to Kansas Expocentre) is offering a special Hawkfest 2008 room rate. Contact them at (785) 431-7200 for more details. There are plenty of hotels and motels available in the area as well. Go to the Visit Topeka, Inc. website hotel reservations page for more information.

Need more information? See the FAQ Page of the website for answers.