The amazing music festival packed with star names that’s just a ferry journey from Hull

It is the world’s largest indoor music festival and is set to present its biggest line-up to date of international stars across jazz, blues, soul, pop and beyond – and it’s all within a hop across the North Sea from Hull.

NN North Sea Jazz is preparing for a summer event packed with more than 1,000 musicians, spread out over 150 performances and 15 different stages. The event attracts more than 90,000 music fans every year.

First launched in 1976, NN North Sea Jazz has hosted a string of musical icons over the years, from Miles Davis and Count Basie to Amy Winehouse and Adele. Despite the title, the festival always offers an eclectic mix across the jazz, soul, neo-soul, RnB, hip-hop and blues genres, and more.

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This year, the Ahoy Centre in Rotterdam will be welcoming its biggest line-up to date, with Stormzy, Lizzo, Little Simz, Jill Scott, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples, Loyle Carner, Yussef Dayes, Ezra Collective, Sampa The Great and many more on the bill. NN North Sea Jazz takes place from Friday to Sunday, July 7 to 9.

Promoters of the festival said: “It’s really quick and accessible to get there by ferry from Hull. It’s also a green, eco-friendly and surprisingly accessible way of travelling to a European music festival via ferry rather than flying.”

Among the artists announced for the festival are American singer, rapper and actress, Janelle Monáe, US hip-hop sensation Duckwrth and Grammy-winning bassist Esperanza Spalding, who has been named as this year’s artist in residence, along with three-time Brit Award-winning soul singer Seal and internationally acclaimed group Snarky Puppy.

North Sea will once again host the world’s leading jazz artists, including pioneering guitarist John Mclaughlin with SHAKTI featuring Zakir Hussain and Shankar Mahadevan; revered trumpeter and educator Wynton Marsalis with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; legendary UK bassist Dave Holland with his New Quartet featuring Kris Davi; South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim; multi Grammy-award-winning arranger and composer Maria Schneider; Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek; bassist and Miles Davis collaborator Marcus Miller; leading American saxophonists Kenny Garrett and Branford Marsalis; internationally acclaimed guitarist Pat Metheny with Side-Eye, and founding member of jazz fusion band Return To Forever, Stanley Clarke.

Visit northseajazz.com for more information.

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