Resilience, Improvisation and Reciprocity.
World Jazz Festival Network Speaker Briefing Note
20-21 November 2020
Rebuilding the World Jazz Festival Network

What is the World Jazz Festival Network and why Amersfoort?

The World Jazz Festival Network Report is made up of participants from Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, South America, North America and the Middle East. These industry representatives attend the World Jazz Conference that is organised in collaboration with the foundation JazzNL and its partners. Based in Amersfoort, JazzNL aims to facilitate cooperation between Dutch and international festivals from around the world, while building new communities of World Jazz devotees and creating opportunities for the next generation. Organisations around the world are creating frameworks and plans to recover socially and economically from the impact of the Coronavirus, although there is still considerable uncertainty as to when this pandemic will be over, however what is clear is the enormous impact the pandemic has had on the World Jazz sector and its audiences. This conference follows a report conducted by IKS Cultural Consulting on behalf of the Rabobank Amersfoort Jazz Festival and Foundation JazzNL. The World Jazz Festival Network Impact Survey Report that is the basis of this year’s conference investigated the impact of the coronavirus on this network.

The following key themes will be explored at the conference:

  1. What the %$#^&!! just happened?
  2. Support for staying alive
  3. Live streaming and new modes of operation
  4. Strategies for recovery