The SC Jazz Festival is seeking local artists!

The SC Jazz Festival is BACK! Mark your calendars for October 15th to 16th as we celebrate jazz great and Cheraw native Dizzy Gillespie's 104th birthday!  A schedule of events may be found below, but we also need your help to make this event a great success!

CHALK ART COMPETITION

The Cheraw Arts Commission is looking for teams to participate in the Sidewalk Chalk Competition on Saturday, October 16 at this year's South Carolina Jazz Festival. We will be remembering jazz legend and Cheraw native Dizzy Gillespie during his 104th birthday.
The annual festival will once again present “Madonnari-Southern Style.” This sidewalk chalk competition is based on the 16th century Italian art form called “Madonnari” or Italian Street Painting. Italian street painters or chalk artists were named I Madonnari as their creations were of the Madonna.

The artists were employed to create art for city cathedrals. Upon completion of their work, the street painters replicated the church paintings onto the pavement during holy days and festivals. Visitors would toss coins upon approval of the street paintings.
Sidewalk masterpieces have been featured for several years during the South Carolina Jazz Festival Teams of at least 4 people will display their Street Painting skills on the sidewalk near at the Theatre on the Green. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the winning teams. Teams can consist of families, friends, organizations, schools, churches, or businesses.

Contact the Cheraw Arts Commission 843.537.8420 x 12 for registration forms and information. Deadline to register is October 11. For additional information about the 2021 South Carolina Jazz Festival (October 15-16) visit www.scjazzfestival.com.


JAZZY TREES

Help us get Jazzy for this year's Jazz Fest! We are decorating trees again this year for the 2021 SC Jazz Festival in Cheraw (October 15-16).

The "Jazzy" trees have added a special touch to the downtown area and throughout Cheraw during the festival weekend.

The Cheraw Arts Commission is seeking families, friends, businesses, organizations, church groups, and schools to adopt a tree(s) for the festival and decorate, primarily the trunk area, with a jazzy flair. Of course, all decorations have to be tree friendly and weather proof.

There will be guidelines/recommendations as to acceptable decorations with additional information regarding set up and tear down. Also, homeowners are encouraged to decorate their own trees on their property.
There is no fee to participate. Signs denoting the "decorators" will be displayed with the tree.
Join us... get creative and create a Jazzy tree for this year's festival.
Contact the Cheraw Arts Commission for more info and guidelines at 843.537.8420 x 12.

Cheraw will be on full display! Vibrant art, free concerts, craft vendors, and more!  Free daytime concerts will fill the Town with Jazz!  At night head from restaurant to restaurant enjoying familiar favorite bands and great food. 

Schedule of Events:

October 10th through 13th - Get in the mood for jazz with an online concert series leading up to the festival.  You can watch last years concerts on our YouTube Page.

Thursday October 14th - Kick off the Jazz Fest with an outdoor concert at the Dizzy Gillespie Homesite Park, located on Huger Street.

Friday October 15th - The Jazz Fest kicks into high gear with an evening Jazz Crawl.  Get out to your favorite local restaurants and enjoy a variety of performers.

Saturday October 16th - Join us as we celebrate Dizzy's 104th Birthday in downtown Cheraw. Live music, the famous Bebop Parade, artisans, artists, craftspeople, the Cheraw Farmer's Market, and more will be in downtown from 10AM to 3PM, followed by a night of jazz!