Appleby Jazz Festival is now an established event in the national music calender. It started with a single concert in Appleby in 1989 and has grown to a 3 day event selling over 3,000 tickets.. Its aims are to promote and develop the creative talent available in this country while also creating a unique opportunity for the more rural population of the north of England to experience and enjoy music of a high artistic level.

The festival uses two venues. One a large marquee catering for over 600 people the other a redundant church used for more intimate and smaller concerts, The whole site which includes, a restaurant, a bar, campsite and car parking runs along the banks of the river Eden.It attracts an audience from all parts of the country and even abroad. It has gained critical acclaim in the US journal “Jazz Times” and around 50 hours of music have been recorded there by the BBC.

The music covers the wide spectrum of improvised music in this country going from the more mainstream music of Alan Barnes and David Newton, via the likes of Stan Tracey and Peter King to the free improvisation of musicians such as Evan Parker. There is a deliberate policy to try and pay all musicians taking part the same and to avoid the more normal hierarchy of bigger stars and lesser stars.

The festival is run by a small group of enthusiasts whose hard work and dedication have made it a success. It has been supported over the years by both The Arts council, Eden Arts and Rural Regeneraion Cumbria and has just gained a 3 year grant from The Northern Rock Fondation. As well as running the festival the society has been responsible for commissioning many new works and organising national tours

Over the past 5years Appleby Jazz Society have run a “Friends of Appleby” subscription scheme and by producing limited edition recordings of the festival, with permission from the musicians it has produced enough revenue to enable the society to commission new works and pay for rehearsals of bigger groups.