Frequently Asked Questions

Why was the festival set up? Butetown Bay Jazz (BBJ) Heritage Festival was conceived by jazz singer and author Patti Flynn and jazz singer and educator Humie Webbe as a vehicle to celebrate, promote and educate the local and wider community on Tiger Bay’s rich jazz heritage. When did the festival start? The inaugural event took place at the Wales Millennium Centre on Sunday 3rd May 2009 and is a major part of the May Day Bank Holiday celebrations in Cardiff. When does it take place? The Butetown Bay Heritage Festival takes place over the May Day Bank Holiday Weekend. Workshops are held on Saturday. An all day concert is held on Sunday and an outdoor event will take place from 2012 in the Oval Basin which is adjacent to the Wales Millennium Centre. What are the festival aims? The aims are to Provide a fun, educative event for all ages and cultural backgrounds Involve the local bay community in presenting and celebrating their jazz heritage Recreate the vibrant spirit of the Docklands community of the 1940’s to 1970’s. Celebrate the achievements of Cardiff and Welsh jazz performers on the international stage Showcase Cardiff and Welsh young performers to a wider audience Create a major annual family May Day celebration for Cardiff and Wales Who funds the event? Butetown Bay Jazz work in partnership with the Wales Millennium Centre's Development Team to secure funding and sponsorship for the festival. Who are Butetown Bay Jazz? BBJ was established in 2009 to organise the festival. The co-founders and event producers are Humie Webbe and Patti Flynn who work closely with the Wales Millennium Centre staff to ensure the Festival ethos of a fun, free, family festival which continues to tell the story of Tiger Bay's rich jazz heritage is maintained. How do we get involved? Contact Humie Webbe or Patti Flyn at info@butetownbayjazz.co,uk and ask for details

How do we get to perform at the festival? The normal process is to contact us via email, letter, telephone, facebook to express your interest in performing. We only book bands or workshop leaders we have personally seen perform live or have see deliver workshops. How do we apply to deliver a workshop? We only employ workshop leaders whose art-form is relevant to the Festival's ethos and who are able to demonstrate their professionalism and reliability via references. What is the process for performing or delivering a workshop? Those interested in performing or delivering workshops should therefore - Inform us of dates when you are playing or delivering workshops in Wales. Occasionally we will travel outside Wales if we are given prior notice and if we think the band or workshop leader would make a major difference to our Festival Send us a web-link to your performance or send a DVD Send a CD of your performance and details of your music/workshop Send us your biography and a good quality photograph or your band, gig or workshop What happens then if you are interested in us performing or delivering a workshop? If we are interested we will make arrangements to see you perform. We will inform you of our decision within 3 weeks. When is the best time to contact you to perform at the festival? Anytime. We receive requests to perform on a regular basis. The event takes place on the May Day Bank Holiday Saturday, Sunday and Monday and we aim to confirm the line-up by the end of November (6 months prior to the event). What is the fee for bands? The fee is negotiable, however we try to pay bands with a notable following and reputation the going rate. We try to support up and coming jazz bands and provide a platform for local artists. In these cases we pay expenses. What is the fee for workshop leaders? The fee is negotiable and depends on the reputation of the workshop leader and/or what skills and experience they are able to bring to the festival. How are payments made? All performers, musicians and workshop leaders are paid via a BACS payment. No cash or cheques are made on the day. It is important therefore to ensure you have a bank account that can receive the payment which are made on presentation of an invoice at least 7 days prior to the event What is the Butetown Bay Jazz Heritage Festival's music policy? The music should reflect the ethos of good family entertainment in the spirit of the jazz oriented/influenced music. As we appreciate many visitors will not be jazz enthusiasts we are seeking Djs, bands and performers who reflect the following music genres - Smooth, Cool, Funky, Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Be Bop, Big Band, Blues, Gospel, Bluegrass, Folk, Rock and Roll, Zydeco, Latin, Calypso, Soca, African, Balkan, Soul, RnB, Reggae, Lovers Rock, Ska. Strictly no Rock, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, Ragga, Dancehall, Dub, Rap, Grime, Garage