Across the country, folks will be celebrating America’s 250th anniversary in their own special way this Fourth of July. That includes the thousands of San Francisco residents who will be celebrating the city’s rich jazz history, one of America’s quintessential musical contributions, at this year’s 39th annual Fillmore Jazz Festival.
For decades, San Francisco’s Fillmore District was known as the “Harlem of the West,” as jazz legends like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Johnny Mathis and more made their way through the neighborhood’s club scene and developed the sounds of West Coast jazz throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
To ensure the neighborhood’s rich history wouldn’t be forgotten, the Fillmore Jazz Festival Preservation Fund has hosted a free Fourth of July weekend festival with live music, arts, and San Francisco culture since 1986.
This year’s festival just happens to land exactly on the Fourth of July, a coincidence Patti Mangan, the executive director of the Fillmore Merchants Association, believed was a blessing.
“The fact that we also got blessed by the fact that we’re having the festival at the same time as the 250th anniversary is amazing,” Mangan said.
Scenes from the 2025 Fillmore Jazz Festival in San Francisco, California.
“It’s an amazing celebration of being American and how connected we are to music, the history of music, and to the legendary performers that have been in the Bay Area.”
This year’s Fillmore Jazz Festival will be open to the public starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 4, and Sunday, July 5, between Fillmore Street, Eddy Street and Jackson Street, in San Francisco.
Organizers expect over 30 Bay Area jazz musicians and groups to perform across the festival’s four stages ranging from But-tah Buttahfly, Caribbean Allstars, Mike Olmos Quartet and Friends, the Curtis Family C-Notes and more.
Additionally, guests can visit food vendors or over 150 retail vendors present throughout the festival.
Scenes from the 2025 Fillmore Jazz Festival in San Francisco, California.
As part of the Fillmore Jazz Festival traditions, festival organizers have paid tribute to some legendary jazz artists by naming the stages after them. Notably, this year, the stages will be named after:
Tony Bennett, an American jazz and pop vocalist, who is best known for his famous song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
Miles Davis, a trumpeter and considered one of the most influential figures in the history of jazz due to his involvement in several jazz movements and his legendary on-stage performances.
John Coltrane is another influential figure in the history of jazz, known for his pioneering innovations on the saxophone, notably his ability to create a complex, rapid-fire approach to chord progressions. This style of play was later known as “Coltrane Changes.”
Johnny Mathis, a record-breaking vocalist who pioneered the concept of a “Greatest Hits” album and a musician with deep-rooted ties to San Francisco.
The Fillmore District is a neighborhood deeply rooted in African American, Asian American and jazz culture, Mangan highlighted. It was one of the few neighborhoods to survive the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, becoming one of San Francisco’s bustling hubs of culture and identity for decades.
Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him at npadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social. Sign up for the TODAY Californian newsletter or follow us on Facebook at TODAY Californian.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fillmore Jazz Festival set to rock San Francisco this Fourth of July