For twenty years, the Five Points Jazz Festival has been one of the events people most closely associate with the Five Points neighborhood. Each spring, Welton Street filled with music, food, and crowds from across the city, celebrating a place long known as the heart of Denver’s jazz history.
Five Points earned the name “Harlem of the West” during the early and mid-20th century, when musicians traveling between Chicago, Kansas City, and the West Coast stopped here to perform. Clubs throughout the neighborhood hosted artists like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald, and the music became part of the identity of the area. Buildings like the Rossonian still stand as reminders of that time, when Five Points was one of the most important jazz destinations in the country.
The festival, which began in 2004, grew into one of Denver’s largest free events, bringing thousands of people to the neighborhood each year. This year, the City of Denver is shifting to a different approach. Instead of a single-day festival, the new Five Points Jazz program will provide funding to local businesses, artists, and organizations to support live music and cultural events throughout the year.
The goal of the change is to keep jazz active in the neighborhood on a regular basis, supporting the musicians and venues that carry the tradition forward. Rather than focusing everything on one day, the program is intended to provide more consistent support for the artists, businesses, and organizations that are part of Five Points today.
Five Points has changed over time, but the music has always been part of the neighborhood. It will be interesting to see how this new approach supports the artists and organizations that keep that tradition going.
Photo credit: Denver Arts & Venues
2490 Welton St, Denver, CO 80205
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Craine Architecture
