Arts This Week: Mad Jazz and Wine Festival 2025
By Ben Larsen
Coco Ahn:
You’re listening to WTJU Charlottesville. The fourth annual Mad Jazz and Wine Festival is happening this September 6, from 11 to 5pm at the Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery. For Arts This Week, we spoke with Eric Mayberry, founder and organizer of the event.
Eric Mayberry:
My name is Eric Mayberry. I came up with the idea of the fest festival about, you know, five years ago, maybe four and a half years ago, and and I called or texted a co worker of mine, his name was Chris Dorm, at one o’clock in the morning, and I was like, guy, man, we need to do like, a jazz and taco festival. And – because I love tacos, I love jazz – and I was just moving to the area, and Chris was like, No, man, it’s Virginia. Like, Virginia loves wine, so let’s do a jazz and wine festival. And so the Mad Jazz and Wine Festival was born. He kind of took it and ran off with it and and we’ve been doing it now for four years. We’ve been fortunate enough to now have artists who reach out to us and ask us if they want to perform. This year we’ve got a great lineup. We’ve got a Grammy-award-winning musician, we’ve got some musicians from Philadelphia. One of my favorite musicians is Chelsea Reed and the Fair Weather Five. And I used to see them in Philadelphia at a jazz club in downtown Philadelphia for years. So we’ve got them traveling here to perform for us. We have Kevin Jackson, we have Cecil and Ari Alexander. Like, it’s a great lineup. We’re really excited about it. The whole idea behind the Mad Jazz Festival would be that it would be like a celebration of community. We were kind of coming out of a pandemic. We wanted to get people together because that had kind of been lost in the pandemic. And so we try to make it a fun family environment. And so you’ll, you’ll see activities for kids, I think, you know, we might have, like a moon bounce or something like that for kids. There’ll be a couple of food trucks there, and and again, a great family environment. People come out, they bring lawn chairs, they sit out, they listen to jazz, they get some wine, smoothies, you know, they get some food, and they just hang out and have an incredible time. One of my favorite things is, we have a VIP experience, right. And the VIP experience is a separate room where people who want VIP admission and VIP access with a whole separate performance, and there’s food and they get some complimentary wine. And so the people that did the VIP experience really had a great time. On the main stage, again, I think it’s the the different acts and the different types of jazz musicians that we bring together, there’s a little bit of something for everybody. And so just seeing the families hanging out, having fun, you know, jazz is America’s, you know, one of America’s original art forms, right? And so in addition to celebrating it like it’s fun to just get people together and swing, and to see people, you know, sitting out having some wine and and the band on stage is swinging is just a whole lot of fun. Part of the Jazz Festival, and one of the things that’s new this year, is that we are donating money to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. We’re trying to help feed people. In these challenging times right now, it’s so critically important that we all roll up our sleeves and do that, and so we’re looking forward to giving a check to the Blue Ridge Food Bank to help them, you know, probably won’t eradicate hunger, but certainly help people be able to, you know, put food and sustenance in their bodies. But the community support this time has been great. I mean, you know, we we’ve got, again, I mentioned Malloy Ford. We’ve got our Lady of Peace, who’s a sponsor for us as well, The Barclay, which is another senior living facility, which is a sponsor. And so, I think the thing this year is, and now we’re in our fourth year, you know, people are really starting to stand up and take notice. It’s at a great facility, Prince Michel is a beautiful vineyard, and so we’re really excited about what we’re doing. So the website is madjazzva.com. Tickets are $30 for adults. Under the age of six is free. If you’re between 6 and 15, it’s only $10. There’s food vendors, wine man, those wine slushies are incredible. So it’s definitely worth showing up and, you know, popping up a chair and having a good time. I think, you know, again, you know, jazz is an original American art form. It is important that we preserve it and celebrate it and continue to enjoy it. And so when you combine jazz with the opportunity to feed people, right? I mean, what could possibly be better? And so we’re excited about it. I’m excited to talk to you about it this morning and and I hope people you know show up. It’s madjazzva.com.
Coco Ahn:
The fourth Mad Jazz Festival will be held on Saturday, September 6, from 11 to 5pm at the Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery. The festival will feature live performances, wine, food trucks, and more. Tickets and information are available at madjazzva.com. Arts This Week is supported by the UVA Arts Council and Piedmont Virginia Community College. PVCC Arts presents a rich array of dance, music, theater, and visual arts programming. Learn more at pvcc.edu. For Arts This Week, this is Coco Ahn. You’re listening to WTJU.
