For the second year running, Burgess Park will play host to Jazz Café Festival: the dynamic new addition to London’s day event roster.
It’s April. Festival season is looming. From late May to early September, parks across the UK will brace for the day-festival circuit; an onslaught of spenny plastic-glassed pints and lost sunglasses.
In the capital alone, day festivals become easily a fortnightly occurrence. It can be difficult – therefore – to choose which one to fork out for. Sometimes, you need a familiar name to guide you. In this way, you may well stumble across Jazz Cafe Festival. The iconic London venue is holding it’s sophomore day festival in Burgess Park on the 3rd of August.
It may not be as established as South London neighbours Cross the Tracks, nor as aggressively marketed as Field Day, but what it does have is a truly remarkable lineup. The Jazz Cafe is an institution. The curation of it’s events and club nights is exceptional. It is not surprising then that it’s new festival reflects this.
The big story is, of course, Westside Gunn’s first UK show. Jazz Cafe Festival is facilitating that, which is already very cool. He will be joined by fellow Griselda member Benny the Butcher. Expect the best kind of chaos. Masego sits at the top of the bill in support of a new body of work which the Jamaican-American songwriter teased on socials last month.
If you want to go in a stranger direction, James Massiah’s spoken word/rap work is a playful, 80’s-electro inflected romp in the park. Elsewhere, DJ sets by Nooriyah and Juls promise to be not just interesting, but crucially fun.
And here lies the key. You can gain all the plaudits you like for having the most eclectic lineup. And, to be clear, this does matter. But the key is enjoyment. That is what people will remember more than anything, and if the sweating crowds of last year’s festival and the ecstatic Jazz Café nights previously covered in this publication are anything to go by, round two promises to deliver.
Jazz Cafe Festival 2025 Lineup (A-Z)
Amy Gadiaga
Aroop Roy
Balthvs
Benny the Butcher
Brighter Days Live
Don West
Elmiene
Guts
IZCO
James Massiah
Juls
Lex Amor
Lexa Gates
Malix
Masego
Nectar Woode
Nabihah Iqbal (DJ)
Nooriyah
Raf Saperra
Skiifall
Westside Gunn
Young Franco
Zino Vinci
Where is Jazz Café Festival?
Burgess Park, Albany Rd, London SE5 0AL
When is Jazz Café Festival?
Sunday 3rd August 2025
featured image: Sophie Harbinson
