The Belgrade Jazz Festival, our oldest and most internationally recognized jazz manifestation, is once again bringing a superb program to its 42nd edition, presenting the most current currents of contemporary jazz. From October 21 to 24, 2026, the audience can expect 13 concerts by prominent world artists and a final jam session at the Dom Omladine Beograda.
The view of a stylized trumpet in the course of the Sava and Danube below Kalemegdan, on the visual solution of the festival, gives the idea for this year's slogan - "Jazz Confluence". Because Belgrade is truly the confluence where the greatest heroes of the genre from all over the world meet for more than half a century, as well as the most diverse styles that together describe jazz.
For the first time in the history of the Belgrade Jazz Festival, the biggest star comes from the world of blues - Ana Popović. It is also the first time that the biggest star is from Serbia, with many reasons. Ana is the most successful Serbian popular music protagonist of all time. In her career, she won ten nominations for the "Blues Award" (Oscar in the blues community), was the headliner of the world's leading blues festivals and the face of the front pages of prestigious blues and guitar magazines. This year, Ana celebrates her fiftieth birthday and a quarter of a century since her solo debut "Hush", and the Belgrade blues scene also celebrates her 45th birthday. It is also interesting that she had her first big performances in the Youth Center, in the legendary club St. James at the Marsoni Blues Fest - exactly 30 years ago! The concert at the opening of the festival also evokes the memory of the editions from the seventies, when many blues greats were presented - B.B. King, Madi Voters, Albert King, Memfis Slim... It's the right moment for our blues heroine to continue this streak!
And here is the Festival program:
21 October 2026
Dom omladine Beograd // Velika sala
19.00 Vladimir Nikolov Nonet: "History Now" (Serbia)
21.00 Ana Popović (Serbia/USA)
22 October 2026
Dom omladine Beograd // Velika sala
19.00 Tino Traccana "Panorchestra" (Italy)
21.00 Chicago Underground Duo – Rob Mazurek & Chad Taylor (USA)
Dom omladine Beograd // Amerikana
22.30 Andreas Schaerer & Daniel García Diego (Spain/Switzerland)
23.45 Arun Ramamurthy Trio (USA)
23 October 2026
Dom omladine Beograd // Velika sala
19.00 Ivan Radivojević Quartet feat. Rastko Obradović (Serbia)
21.00 The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis (USA)
Dom omladine Beograd // Amerikana
22.30 Seifert Night:
Akimbo (Poland)
JuMa (Poland)
24 October 2026
Dom omladine Beograd // Velika sala
19.00 João Paulo Esteves da Silva Quartet (Portugal / Great Britain)
21.00 Marquis Hill Blacktet Revisited (USA)
Dom omladine Beograd // Amerikana
22.30 Đorđe Kujundžić Quartet (Serbia)
23.45 Jam Session
A limited number of ticket sets for the 42nd Belgrade Jazz Festival (the set is valid for 8 concerts in the main program from 19 hours) can be purchased at the eFinity ticket office in the Youth Center of Belgrade.
Individual tickets for all concerts can be purchased at all eFinity sales points and online.
The founder and sponsor of the Belgrade Jazz Festival is the City of Belgrade, which in 2007 included BDŽF in events of special significance.
The organizer of the festival is Dom omladine Beograd.
The patrons of the 42nd BDŽF are the City of Belgrade - City Administration - Secretariat for Culture and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia.
Friends of the 42nd BDŽF are SOKOJ and DPC Networks.
BDŽF was supported by: Italian Institute in Belgrade, Cervantes Institute, Embassy of Portugal and Kamoeš Institute, Zbigniew Seifert Foundation, Mid Atlantic Arts.
Creative concept and visual solution: Agency McCann Belgrade.
The Belgrade Jazz Festival is, by invitation, a member of the European Jazz Network.
