'This July's 41st Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival will be the last due to funding cuts despite attracting 88,000 people' founder laments
This July's Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival, which will be its 41st, could be the last, according to its founder.
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Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival founder Jim Simpson revealed the popular festival could be consigned to history after vital funding has been pulled by Birmingham City Council and Westside Business Improvement District.
Despite attracting 88,000 music lovers to the region last year, the vast majority of which enjoyed live jazz and blues for free, the festival lost public funding.
Jim told the Express & Star: "This year's festival will be the last if nothing changes. We attracted 88,000 people to the region last year for gigs in Birmingham and the Black Country so we expected some public funding this year.
"However, Birmingham City Council has pulled our funding and we found out recently Westside BID has also stopped their funding. So I have had to take out a loan myself to underwrite this year's festival."
