Starting from 5:30 p.m., audiences could gather across two stages to watch artists ranging from emerging jazz musicians, including MSU alumni and students, to more established artists like Grammy-winning artist Endea Owens.

The event itself, entirely free for audiences to roam as they please, is run solely off sponsors and donations by attendees, with volunteers collecting donations during the event.

Alvin Paige, a young saxophonist, kicked off the event with his ensemble on the MSU Outreach and Engagement Education Stage. This stage provides local and emerging artists the opportunity to showcase their talent.

The Al and Beth Cafagna Founder’s Stage began shortly afterwards and featured more established artists like saxophonist Walter Blanding, who is a jazz studies assistant professor at MSU.

When opening the stage, Blanding told the audience "we're going to make it hotter metaphorically.” 

Before beginning the performance with his band, he spoke a little about what music and jazz mean to him.

“I’ve been playing since I was a little child and maybe that’s what keeps me young,” Blanding said. “I hope to be a child for the rest of my life.”

He then shared his thoughts on why they were holding the festival and why jazz is important.

“We know how important the arts are, how important jazz is to American culture and the rest of the world,” Blanding said. “We put our own style and twist into the music, just like what this country represents. We are multicultural, we’ve been all around everywhere, and that’s what the music represents.”

Festival Coordinator Justin Drwencke said that the festival helps showcase MSU’s jazz program and bring the community together through art.

“East Lansing is often referred to as the city of arts, so why wouldn’t we showcase jazz music here?” Drwencke said. 

Drwencke said that the festival also celebrates the official start of summer.

“It’s really beautiful to see all the folks come together,” Drwencke said. “To me, it represents how jazz has so many different kinds of subjunctions. There’s so many thoughts and feelings tucked into this umbrella of jazz, and when you look around the crowd you see the same thing.”

Drwencke said the crowd on Friday night was at least twice the size compared to last year's. Drwencke works closely with MSU jazz studies professor and festival Artistic Director Rodney Whitaker.

“Our big goal for this year, which I think we accomplished, is to elevate the caliber of artists that are showcased,” Drwencke said.

Local artists from the community still had an important place in the event, but the festival coordinators also wanted to look into creating an event with more broad appeal, including artists who had more media recognition, he said.

Drwencke said this is also the first year that the festival has showcased two artists with Grammy awards.

Drwencke expressed the importance of this festival being free to audiences. He said creating experiences that bring the community together without barriers is important to the ethos of the city.

He also said that the festival is a great way to introduce people to the genre of jazz.

“It’s really cool to look around at the crowd and see families with young children who might be hearing jazz for the first time,” Drwencke said.

LaVon McPherson, a bass guitarist from Detroit, performed with Deon Yates on the MSU Outreach and Engagement Education Stage for his second year at the festival.

McPherson said the foundation of the different genres of music he plays all comes from jazz. 

“The exposure of it, for people to see different expressions of it, how people approach songs, the intensity on the stage, the feedback on the crowd and just the intermingling— that’s why it's important to me,” McPherson said. 

McPherson said live music allows for audience interaction and participation.

Endea Owens’ performance, which closed off Friday night, exemplified this.

“Music is vital in life,” Owens said during her performance. “It’s something that I don’t think any of us fully understand the power of, but we’re going to use that power with what we know, in this moment, to feel good.”

Closing off her performance and the festival’s first day, Owens encouraged audiences to stand up and dance along to her music.