Calendar / Panama Jazz Festival
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Music & Culture Festivals in Panama City
Panama Jazz Festival
Jan 14–16, 2027ConfirmedPanama Jazz Festival 2027
Run by Fundacion Danilo Perez, with published dates and a real program.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why go
The Panama Jazz Festival is the biggest jazz gathering in Central America and the cultural high point of Panama City's calendar. Founded in 2003 by the Panamanian pianist and Grammy winner Danilo Perez, it takes over the capital for a week each January with evening concerts by world-class artists, late-night jam sessions in the bars of Casco Viejo, and, at its heart, a huge free daytime education programme of clinics, masterclasses and auditions that draws hundreds of students from across the Americas. This double identity is the point: it is a serious festival with a genuine social mission, and its proceeds fund the Fundacion Danilo Perez and its year-round music teaching for Panamanian children. The music itself reflects Panama's position as a crossroads, mixing straight-ahead and Latin jazz with the country's own Afro-Caribbean and folkloric rhythms, and past line-ups have brought names like Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter to the isthmus. Going means hearing top-tier improvised music in an intimate, walkable city where the festival spills out of the concert halls into the streets and squares.
When it runs
Held each January in Panama City, produced by the Fundacion Danilo Perez, which founded it in 2003. A week of ticketed evening concerts, late-night jam sessions and a large free daytime education programme across the capital's venues. Upcoming: the 2027 edition runs 14 to 16 January.
- Jan 14–16, 2027ConfirmedPanama Jazz Festival 2027
Dates read confirmed where the organizer has published them, and expected where we've projected the recurrence. Always verify with the organizer before booking.
What to expect
The festival runs for several days in the middle of January, in the heart of the dry season, so the weather is warm, bright and reliable, ideal for an event that moves between indoor concert halls and open-air stages and squares. Evening concerts are ticketed and the marquee shows sell out, while the daytime education programme and many outdoor performances are free. Book concert tickets and accommodation well ahead, as January is peak season in Panama City. The 2027 edition is scheduled for 14 to 16 January.
Getting there & around
The festival is spread across Panama City venues, with the education programme historically hosted at a downtown university campus and concerts in theatres and open spaces including Casco Viejo, all reachable by short taxi or rideshare hops. Buy tickets through the official festival site in advance for the main evening concerts; the daytime clinics and many outdoor sets are free and open. January is high season, so book flights and hotels early. Casco Viejo is the best base for the late-night jam sessions. Bring a light layer for air-conditioned halls.
Where it happens
Panama City, Panama.
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