Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival
Encyclopedia
Samois-sur-Seine
Samois-sur-Seine is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.It is located near Fontainebleau.-Culture:...
, France since 1968. It has become a yearly event since 1984, and it takes place in the last full weekend in June. The Samois festival is seen amongst the Gypsy Jazz
Gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...
community as being the definitive Django festival with people travelling from all over the world to attend. Django "pilgrims" also take time out to pay respect at Reinhardt's grave in Samois.
Since 2002, the open air Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival is organized every year in May in his birth village Liberchies
Liberchies
Liberchies is a village in the municipality of Pont-à-Celles, in the Belgian province of Hainaut.It is situated along the previous Roman highway Bavay-Tongeren where a vicus was discovered. Geminiacum is the name of the vicus that developed along the Roman highway next to the center of today's...
, municipality of Pont-à-Celles
Pont-à-Celles
Pont-à-Celles is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006, Pont-à-Celles had a total population of 16,292...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. The concept behind the festival combines a quality musical program with a multitude of creative, leisure and artistic activities about jazz, guitars and Gypsies. This festival is a great family celebration of Django
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
and his music.
There are other festivals around the world to celebrate Mr. Reinhardt's music, such as DjangoFest
DjangoFest
DjangoFest is a series of music festivals celebrating the music of Django Reinhardt and other forms of gypsy jazz and traditional gypsy music. There are three annual festivals DjangoFest Northwest produced by Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, DjangoFest San Francisco, a three day festival held...
in the western United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. And since 2000, the open air Django Reinhardt Festival in Hildesheim
Hildesheim
Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...
- Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
is organized every year in July.