HARTFORD, Conn. — For many families, going to the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz is a summer tradition.
"I’ve been to many festivals before. I don’t recall not coming to the festival, I’ll put it this way. We’ve been coming here since back when the festival was behind us on the other side of the carousel," said Jose Nieves Jr. of Windsor.
One that brings people together to enjoy their shared love of music.
"It’s a beautiful environment. There’s almost like a reunion on an annual basis. You come here you enjoy the environment, you enjoy the beautiful music, and you enjoy the people," Nieves said.
In its 32nd year, it is the largest free jazz event in all of New England. It has grown tremendously since its beginning.
"It started out with one vendor now it has a little under a hundred vendors," said Charles Christie, president of the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz.
From local artisans selling their crafts and products to food trucks with diverse cuisines, people said they love that there is a little bit of something for everyone.
"Everything. I like the food, I like the booths, people are great, everybody’s friendly and the music is wonderful," said Marcus, a West Hartford resident.
The all-volunteer run event prides itself on being able to bring incredible talent from all over to take center stage in Hartford.
"Our formula is mixing the local, the regional, the national and the international and then spreading it out over three days," Christie said.
That helps make this festival more than just a local tradition.
"It became a tradition then it went from a tradition to a destination festival and from that here we are," Christie said.
The festival continues through the weekend, more information on the lineup can be found here.
Gaby Molina is a reporter and anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at mmolina@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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