Overview The Lewiston Jazz Festival closes Center Street in the village of Lewiston, New York, for two days in late August and runs five free stages along it, from a concert-scale main stage at Fourth Street to a bakery courtyard where small combos play. More than 150 musicians play across a Friday evening and a full Saturday. The New York Power Authority started it in 2001 as a community service to revive the regional jazz scene, and Lewiston Jazz Festival Inc., a Niagara County 501(c)(3), took it over; it skipped 2020 and 2021 for the pandemic. Lewiston is about 20 minutes from Buffalo and under 90 minutes from Rochester and Toronto. On site The Main Stage at Center and Fourth is an elevated concert stage for the headliners, fronted by Jazz Club tables with reserved seats and beer and wine service. The Center Street Stage, between Sixth and Seventh, carries the region's local bands, especially the bigger ones, with free seating. The Frontier House Stage sits between Fourth and Fifth in front of the Frontier House, and the festival bills it as its place for surprise discoveries. Duos play the Peace Garden Stage off Center Street, where the seats are park benches under trees, and the DiCamillo Courtyard beside DiCamillo's Bakery hosts small combos. Food and drink vendors line Center Street, with culinary samplings and wine tastings. Hours run 5 to 10:30 p.m. on Friday and noon to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, rain or shine. Audience People bring their own folding chairs to the stages, and coolers and carry-ins are not allowed. Free parking sits in Artpark's lower lot three blocks away, and all five stages are on or just off one street, so the crowd moves between them on foot. Talent and Influencers Past headliners include Kurt Elling, John Pizzarelli, Stacey Kent, Diane Schuur, Randy Brecker, Monty Alexander's Harlem-Kingston Express, The New York Voices, Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, The Hot Sardines, Emmet Cohen, Bria Skonberg and Veronica Swift. The festival says it booked Elling, Pizzarelli and Swift before they were widely known. Brand presence Four of the five stages carry a sponsor's name: Northwest Bank on the Main Stage, Modern Disposal Services on Center Street, Sevenson Environmental Services at the Frontier House and the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission in the Peace Garden. The DiCamillo Courtyard stage is sold with Presented by signage. Sponsor levels include Jazz Club tables for the Friday and Saturday headliners, tickets to a Saturday sponsor reception, parking passes, and logos on the stages, the website and the festival brochure.