Reporter
Despite the soggy conditions, the 30th Annual Bakersfield Jazz Festival, held at the CSU Bakersfield Amphitheater, drew a wide variety of patrons.
When walking through the entry gate of the Bakersfield Jazz Festival, the first thing that hit attendees was the smell of all the food vendors.
Right across the way from the vendors was the smaller stage where artists like the CSUB Jazz Collective played in-between sets of the larger stage.
On Friday, May 6 dawned with clouds and spots of rain, but jazz fans still showed up for the annual event.
Attendees set up their spots with lawn chairs, umbrellas and even tarps to protect them from the rain.
The first act was music professor and co-founder Doug Davis and Dr. D’s Debris who touched the audience with two songs dedicated to his children. When Mike Stern and the Mike Stern Band played event goers got up and danced. About 300 people surrounded the stage and boogied.
“It was still really fun and a great show even in the rain,” Annabelle Noyola had to say about the Bakersfield Jazz Festival. “The performers even allowed us to be on the stage with them. Something I won’t ever forget.”
On Saturday, May 7 was an ideal day for a festival with the sun shining and the perfect amount of wind. The first two acts went off without a hitch. There were people milling about and children dancing to the music.
“I’ve been (to Bakersfield Jazz Festival) every other year for five years. My mother has been here for a dozen events in the past twenty years,” Courtney Absher, a Bakersfield local said of the Bakersfield Jazz Festival “I’ve brought my mom here twice for Mother’s Day.”
When Aubrey Logan hit the stage, the clouds started to roll in, but that didn’t prevent people from enjoying the show. During one of her songs, Logan invited the children up onto the stage with her to dance while she performed.
“It was very entertaining, but I don’t know if the ticket price was fully worth it. I had been once (before) a few years ago,” John Popek, another Bakersfield local, had to say about the price and weather. “We went Saturday at 3 p.m. and left around nine, so we didn’t really get any rain.”
The fourth performance group of the night, Brian Lynch’s “Unsung Heroes” Project, took to the stage the clouds decided to open up for a few minutes of sprinkling, but other than that it was a dry night.
Through the rain on Friday and the shine on Saturday, the 30th annual Bakersfield Jazz Festival was a hit.
