Overview The Chicago Jazz Festival is the world's largest free jazz festival, held over Labor Day weekend in Millennium Park. DCASE produces it with the Jazz Institute of Chicago, which has programmed it from the beginning. Four days of shows bring international headliners to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion and give Chicago players their own stages around the park. DCASE estimated 220,000 attendees at the latest edition. On site Evening headliners play the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, where the seating bowl and Great Lawn hold the weekend's biggest crowds. Afternoon sets start earlier, and the WDCB Jazz Lounge gives local and emerging artists a smaller room. Brass bands work the promenades near Cloud Gate. Alcohol is sold inside the venue and outside alcohol is not allowed. Opening night starts after work on Thursday, and the festival closes Sunday night before the holiday. Audience Jazz draws an older, more affluent crowd than most park events. Three in four attendees earn over $60,000 and nearly half report household incomes above $100,000. Fewer than half live in Chicago, so many travel in, plan well ahead and return year after year. The gender split is close to even. Talent and Influencers Past headliners include Herbie Hancock, Esperanza Spalding, Gregory Porter, Ramsey Lewis, Dianne Reeves and Cécile McLorin Salvant. The latest festival brought Dee Dee Bridgewater with Bill Charlap, Robert Glasper, the Miles Electric Band for the Miles Davis Centennial and Paquito D'Rivera, with Chicago's Isaiah Collier, Joel Ross and Paul Marinaro on the same bill. Track record The festival has filled Labor Day weekend for more than four decades, with the Jazz Institute of Chicago programming it throughout. Chicago has also served as host city for International Jazz Day, and DCASE pairs the festival with jazz programs at the Chicago Cultural Center and in the neighborhoods. Brand presence Wells Fargo presents the festival. Supporting sponsors include Humana, Capital Vacations, Chicago Public Media, WDCB 90.9 FM, DownBeat, Chicago Jazz Magazine, the CTA and Millennium Garages, with support from the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation and the Millennium Park Foundation. WDCB's name on the festival's lounge stage shows how a partner can own a space. Activation space, sampling, stage signage and guest hospitality are also available.