The Monterey Jazz Festival is the longest running jazz festival in the world. It is held annually on the 20-acre, oak-studded Monterey Fairgrounds, located at 2000 Fairground Road in Monterey, California. This has been the site of the Festival since its inception in 1958.

More than 500 top jazz artists perform throughout the weekend on 9 stages spread throughout the grounds.

Outdoor stages include the Arena/Jimmy Lyons Stage, the Garden Stage, the Courtyard Stage, and the West Lawn Stage.  Indoor stages include Lyons Lounge, the Night Club/Bill Berry Stage, Dizzy's Den, The Jazz Theater, and the Coffee House Gallery.

From gate opening at 6:00 pm on Friday through Sunday night's closing concerts, the Monterey Jazz Festival offers 3 nights and 2 days of nonstop jazz entertainment.

"Monterey has special meaning for me. It's the one festival where the musicians really feel a part of the festival itself. At other festivals, you have a spot, you play the spot, you go wherever your spot is. But the Monterey Jazz Festival is unique in that the musicians feel they're part of what's happening, and that lends itself to a very high degree of creativity."
- Dizzy Gillespie, 1977

Named  "the greatest jazz festival ever" by Tony Bennett and the "Festival of the Year" by JazzTimes readers in both 2006 and 2007, the Monterey Jazz Festival is the world's longest running jazz festival--and one of its most prestigious.

Every September since the inaugural festival in 1958 - which featured some of the greatest legends in jazz, including Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan and Billie Holiday - the Monterey Jazz Festival has brought together electrifying jazz artists and enthusiastic jazz audiences for a three-day celebration of jazz.