The 2024 Ottawa Jazz Festival will run from Friday, June 21 to Sunday, June 30. Festival hours are from 12pm to 1:00am.

The 2024 Ottawa Jazz Festival takes place on several stages conveniently located within just steps away from each other. Confederation Park is the site of the Main Stage, the OLG Stage is at Marion Dewar Plaza in front of Ottawa City Hall, the Fourth Stage and Azrieli Studio are at the National Arts Centre (NAC); and Grill 41 at the Lord Elgin Hotel site of the Late Night Jamming Series. Several free club shows will take place at Gigspace, Irene’s Pub, Live on Elgin and Minotaure.

Download the Ottawa Jazz Festival app for Apple or Android to view the Festival map.

Ottawa Jazz Festival is cashless this year and there will not be any ATM’s on site at the festival. Be ready to make any purchases with Debit, Credit, Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Wallet.

Yes! Download the Ottawa Jazz Festival app for a map of the venue locations.

The app is available for both Apple and Android.

Yes! Children under the age of 12 are free for outdoor shows at the Main Stage (Confederation Park), and OLG Stage (Marion Dewar Plaza). Youth aged 13 to 25 can purchase a Youth ticket.

Children under the age of 12 do require a ticket or pass for all indoor shows (National Arts Centre) and admission to the Platinum Section and Gold Circle Tent.

The Festival doesn’t have a designated parking area but parking is available at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa City Hall, Rideau Centre and World Exchange Plaza. Rates may vary. Street parking is also available in the evening.

Both the Main Stage at Confederation Park and the OLG Stage at Marion Dewar Plaza are conveniently accessible:

- Confederation Park and Marion Dewar Plaza are both barrier-free environments equally accessible to both disabled and enabled patrons, therefore, there will not be a designated seating area.

- Each disabled patron requiring special assistance is entitled to an additional entry for their attendant. Their attendant will be given a wristband upon entry to the park, which will allow them access.

- For Para-Transpo drop offs, the most convenient access is at the Drill Hall, off of Queen Elizabeth Drive and is closest to the OLG Stage.

- Accessible Washrooms are located at both Confederation Park and Marion Dewar Plaza.

- Collapsible lawn chairs are permitted throughout Confederation Park and Marion Dewar Plaza and we encourage those who may have difficulty standing for long periods to bring them.

Yes, there are unsupervised bike racks at City Hall and the south-west corner of Confederation Park nearest the Laurier and Elgin St. entrance.

The entirety of the gated park area at Confederation Park and Marion Dewar Plaza is licensed for the consumption of beer, wine, cider and more during Festival hours (11 am – 1 am).

A selection of refreshing Ontario wine, beer, cider and ready-mixed cocktails will be available for purchase on festival grounds.

Here are our house policies concerning alcohol service:

All patrons must be at least 19 years of age and must have a valid government issued, photo identification.

Acceptable forms of identification include:

- valid Ontario (or other provincial) driver’s license with a photograph

- valid Passport

- Canadian Citizenship Card with a photograph

- Canadian Armed Forces identification card

- an LCBO BYID photo card

Staff and Management reserve the right to refuse entry or service to any individual or party. Individuals demonstrating signs of intoxication will not be allowed to enter and/or will be refused service and ejected from the premises.

Only alcohol purchased from licensed Festival concessions may be consumed, and must not be taken off site. No other alcohol may be brought onto the Festival premises. Staff and Management reserve the right to inspect personal effects at any time.

The following behaviors are grounds for ejection:

- Rowdiness, violent or aggressive behavior

- Use or possession of illegal narcotics

- Use of counterfeit currency

- Vandalism or theft

- Showing signs of intoxication

- Engaging in conduct that may cause harm to yourself or others

- Non-compliance with a staff request

- Disobeying any house policy

Please enjoy the Festival responsibly!

No outside alcohol is permitted at any Ottawa Jazz Festival concerts. (See above for information on licensing and the house policies concerning alcohol consumption.)

Non-alcoholic beverages in sealed containers are permissible. The festival volunteers, staff, and security appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

The Ottawa Jazz Festival has a number of concessionaires and vendors with a variety of food and beverage options for sale.

2024 Food Vendors will be announced soon.

Dogs and other pets are not permitted inside the park during festival hours. Guide and service dogs (as well as other service animals) are permitted.

The Ottawa Jazz Festival is a smoke-free festival. Smoking, including the use of cigarettes, cannabis, and vaping are not permitted on the festival grounds. Smokers are asked to please leave the premises in order to smoke. Ticket and Pass holders can re-enter the premises. 

Festival volunteers, staff, and security appreciate your cooperation.

No fireworks. No alcohol. No Chains. No weapons. Don’t bring anything you wouldn’t bring to the airport.

Professional photography and recording equipment are prohibited. Only official Festival-approved photographers are permitted to take photographs.

If the band brings their CDs or t-shirts, they will be available at the Souvenir tent at Confederation Park.

Outdoor shows at the Ottawa Jazz Festival will run rain or shine! 

Concerts may be delayed but will resume shortly after the worst of the rain has subsided. Ponchos are for sale at the Souvenir tent in Confederation Park.

Yes, we do, generously provided by Ottawa Public Health!

Some of you have asked us this question. Fair enough. It deserves an answer. There are a couple of reasons.

Insurance costs have increased exponentially since COVID and one of the reasons is the risk of having cash on site. So, in order to minimize the risk to our insurers (and pay less) we’ve opted to “tap” our way into this year’s festival. By doing this, we can also keep our ticket prices affordable which is super important to us.

Since COVID, volunteers are less and less enthusiastic about handling cash – meaning: the less actual contact they have with other people’s cash, they safer they feel and we need to respect their need to feel safe.

We are constantly at risk of exposure for fraud with cash hanging around – we lessen this risk (from our auditor’s point of view) by conducting our transactions through online payment gateways which can track and record every purchase and ensure and minimize risk.

Please realize we are not going “cashless” to make your lives difficult but only to make the Festival more compliant with the many new rules and regulations coming at us from sources beyond our control! And, since we now have the technology to support minimizing the risk to the organization, we hope you’ll support us in our decision!

Thank you so much for your understanding! And please have a good festival!

Catherine O’Grady

Executive Producer

June 23, 2022 

You can purchase an Ottawa Jazz Festival E-Gift Card through Showpass.

Learn more here: https://help.showpass.com/hc/en-us/articles/19103042194967-How-to-Buy-an-Organizer-Gift-Card

Here are the steps for activating your Ottawa Jazz Festival E-Gift Card through Showpass: https://help.showpass.com/hc/en-us/articles/19103062770455-Activating-Your-Organizer-Gift-Card

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Feel free to reach out at contact@ottawajazzfestival.com.