Julian Leefe-Griffiths who runs the summer-long jazz season said: “We are really looking forward to bringing The Pantiles alive again with some excellent Jazz nights, we have a really exciting season coming up.
“I work with the jazz impresario Lionel Shell, who many in the town know from his smart suits and colourful shoes, This year Lionel has booked a great line up with regulars such as Derek Nash, Dave Ital and Vince Dunn, plus some new and emerging acts for the stage.
“It’s quite a labour of love to organise the Jazz which has been running in its current format for over 10 years. Jazz on The Pantiles has really become an iconic summer event in the town, which everyone seems to love attending.
“This year has been particularly challenging, getting the show back on the road again, but we have help from our excellent headline sponsor Dandara together with Brooks McDonald, Thomson Snell and Passmore and the supportive Royal Tunbridge Wells Together.
“My thanks must also go out to two new sponsors this year. Batcheller Monkhouse and AXA Health.”
However, he added that the format of the Thursday night event will be the same as in the last two years.
“It’s been one of the unintentional benefits of Covid, before we used to run the Jazz in a fairly relaxed and open way. As time went on, this became more difficult with the rising number of people attending,” explained Julian.
“We needed to do something to reduce the crowd numbers, as the whole Pantiles was getting quite swamped. We also did have a few issues with people bringing in alcohol, which benefited no one who operated at or contributed to the Jazz.”
The new system means that to attend Jazz on The Pantiles you will need to book a table at one of the participating venues. These include The Tunbridge Wells Hotel, The Kirthon or Casa Vecchia.
There is also a £5 entry fee.
