By Hu Min

The much anticipated 2026 Jazz Spring opened in Xuhui District on Friday, the first day of the five-day May Day holiday, gathering 150 top Chinese and foreign jazz musicians to stage more than 100 jazz performances of diverse styles.

Covering indoor concerts, outdoor public shows, interactive experiences and other forms, it presents tourists with a holiday cultural and tourism feast integrating appreciation, participation and consumption.

Adopting the dual themes of West Bund Breeze and Brazilian Town, the event connects the Xuhui Riverside Belt and the Hengfu (Hengshan-Fuxing Road) Historical Conservation Zone.

Over six days, it assembles 150 leading musicians at home and abroad for over 100 splendid performances. Taking jazz music experience as a bond, it links waterfront spaces, urban blocks, commercial venues and cultural sites.

The West Bund Breeze section presents diverse scenes of top-tier theater performances and outdoor carnivals, integrating cultural experience, urban wandering and public events.

The West Bund Theater will host nightly master concerts featuring renowned artists, including Brazilian music icon Ivan Lins, harp virtuoso Edmar Castañeda and jazz piano legend Kenny Barron. Outdoor stages at the Gate M West Bund Dream Center's theater square and waterfront platform, as well as free live shows and band parades along the riverfront, will run continuously.

Special stages will pair musical performances with the ongoing Shanghai International Flower Show, creating a mixed music-and-flora atmosphere.

Based on No.8 Hengshan Road, the Brazilian Town section creates an immersive scene where Brazilian customs blend with Chinese culture. It brings together vinyl music, coffee culture, samba dance and jazz masterclasses.

Professional samba dancers will lead visitors to dance and interact on site. There are also Brazilian specialty food markets and handmade experience stalls. Under the plane trees, visitors can enjoy authentic samba carnivals, taste Brazilian delicacies and experience pure Latin style. It revitalizes block consumption vitality and builds an urban landmark integrating cultural experience and lifestyle.

To offer tourists a more engaging holiday experience, the event launches a wealth of featured interactive activities and consumption benefit packages.

A vintage trolley jazz bus with tickets priced at 5 yuan (73 US cents) per seat will travel along the riverside, with station display boards highlighting key moments in jazz history and the industrial heritage transformation of the Xuhui riverside. Passengers can immerse themselves in the perfect harmony of jazz melodies and spring riverside scenery.

Pop-up shows, parades and other featured activities are staged intermittently along the riverside trails and street corners throughout the Jazz Spring event, filling every corner of the West Bund with music and creating an immersive ambiance of scenic views and melodious tunes.

The Brazilian Town section offers a range of immersive interactive experiences. In addition to samba dance interactions, open jazz master classes are held, inviting renowned Chinese and foreign jazz artists to give on-site lectures, allowing visitors to learn jazz performance skills and appreciate the charm of jazz music.

The vinyl record experience area selects a large collection of Brazilian jazz vinyl records for visitors. Paired with Brazilian specialty coffee tasting, it delivers a leisure experience for both hearing and taste, enabling people to feel the collision of Brazilian style and jazz culture.

Consumption vouchers for the Double Five Shopping Festival to shopping malls around the event venue are available. Moreover, 1 million yuan worth of cultural tourism and accommodation vouchers are distributed on Trip.com.

As an annual jazz gala since 2014, Jazz Spring centers on the positioning of international vision, high-end quality and public participation.