Jazz Bash Monterey
March 5-7, 2027 · Downtown Monterey
Jazz Bash Monterey is a traditional jazz and swing festival held across two adjoining downtown venues, the Monterey Conference Center and the Portola Hotel & Spa. It is a different event from the Monterey Jazz Festival, which runs in September at the Fairgrounds — if that is the one you are looking for, it is here.
Dates
Friday 5 to Sunday 7 March 2027, the organiser's own published dates. If you have seen March 6–8 quoted, that was the 2026 festival, which has already happened — the two are a day apart because the festival runs Friday to Sunday and the calendar moved.
A 2027 band schedule and set times are not published yet. The festival posts its running order as a PDF closer to the date.
Venues
- Portola Hotel & Spa — 2 Portola Plaza, Monterey CA 93940. The organiser calls it festival headquarters, and it is the only venue whose address they publish.
- Monterey Conference Center — Adjoining the Portola on Portola Plaza. The festival names it as a venue but publishes no separate address for it.
The two sit side by side on Portola Plaza in downtown Monterey and the festival moves between them, so the walk between venues is a short one. Which bands play which rooms is set by the band schedule rather than fixed, and that is not out for 2027 yet.
Tickets
Badge prices for 2027 are not published. The festival's own badges page says only "Please check back soon", so there is no all-event price, no single-day price and no early-bird deadline to report yet — and no previous year's figure is repeated here in place of one, because this festival has priced early-bird badges against a January deadline before, and a stale number is worst exactly when someone is deciding whether to buy now.
One thing that is published: a Friends of Note donation of $25 or more per person collects a commemorative pin at the festival's will-call desk. That is a donation, not admission.
Parking downtown
Both venues sit in downtown Monterey, where parking is structured and paid rather than on-street and free.
Parking at the Portola itself is limited, in the festival's own words. It points instead at two large public garages nearby, the East and West Garages on Portola Plaza. Neither the festival nor its venue page publishes garage rates, closing times or any festival validation, so budget for downtown garage pricing and check the tariff at the gate.
Where to stay
There is a room block, and it has a deadline. The Portola Hotel & Spa is festival headquarters and holds rooms at $252 single or double. The rate is held until Tuesday 2 February 2027, and booking is by phone on (866) 711-1734 — you have to say "Dixieland Jazz Bash Monterey 2027" to get it, which is the festival's older name and not what the website is called.
The festival also lists seven RV parks around the county, from the Monterey County Fair & Event Center RV Park to Laguna Seca Recreation Area, and points at See Monterey for everything else.
Official site: jazzbashmonterey.com ↗