San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival 2025: Everything you need to know
Continuity and expansion are the twin pillars for the second annual San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival, which takes places Thursday through next Sunday on both sides of the border.
The lineup boasts Grammy Award-winners Arturo O’Farrill, John Clayton, David Sánchez and Jorge Castillo, an all-star tribute to the late sax legend (and former San Diegan) James Moody, and such standout local artists as Gilbert Castellanos, Holly Hofmann, Irving Flores and Ivan Trujillo.
James Moody at 100: The late music great is being celebrated near and far
Rising singing stars Gabrielle Cavassa and Lucia — the winners, respectively, of the 2021 and 2022 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competitions — will make their festival debuts. And talented teenage musicians will be featured in The Binational Youth Ensemble, which will perform at the festival concerts in both San Diego and Tijuana.
San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival sets lineup for its second year
“Our primary goal is to bring great music to the audiences in both cities — not only from outside the community but from inside — and to allow people to hear artists they might not otherwise hear,” said Daniel Atkinson, who cofounded the festival last year with Tijuana concert producer and restaurateur Julian Plascencia.
That goal is made considerably easier by the fact that the festival’s opening concert Thursday at the open-air venue Quartyard in downtown San Diego and closing concert next Sunday on the streets of downtown Tijuana are free to attend.
Moreover, while Saturday’s star-packed concert inside the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, is a paid-ticket affair, those ticketed performances will be complemented by free outdoor performances in the center’s spacious courtyard.
“We take a lot of inspiration from the free annual jazz festivals in cities like Detroit, Chicago and Atlanta,” Atkinson said.
“So, we’re very happy to add an outdoor stage in Escondido with a couple of bands that anyone can come and see at no cost. We want to present the music to as many people as possible.”
2025 San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival
5 p.m. Thursday, Oct 2, in East Village: Irving Flores Afro-Cuban Sextet; The Less Likely; and the Binational Youth Ensemble, which features students from Ensenada trumpeter Ivan Trujillo’s Instituto Contemporáneo de Música de Baja California and from San Diego trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos’ Young Lions Jazz Conservatory.
3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, in Escondido: Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Ensemble, with the Fandango Fronterizo Colectivo; Gabrielle Cavassa; “James Moody @ 100,” featuring David Sánchez, John Clayton, Gerald Clayton, Lewis Nash, Holly Hofmann and Gilbert Castellanos; Lucia; Ivan Trujillo Ensamble
3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, in Tijuana: Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro-Latin Ensemble, with the Fandango Fronterizo Colectivo; Irving Flores Afro-Cuban Sextet; Lucia; The Less Likely; Binational Youth Ensemble
Where: Thursday at Quartyard, 1301 Market Street, East Village, San Diego; Saturday at California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., next Sunday at Avenida Revolucion, between Calle Hermenegildo Galeana and Calle Flores Magon, Tijuana.
Tickets: Admission on Thursday and next Sunday is free, as are Saturday’s outdoor performances. Ticket prices for Saturday’s indoor performances range from $42-$118.80. Attendees with orchestra section seats for Saturday’s indoor concert can purchase $85 passes, while supplies last, that include a hosted dinner that night plus VIP seating at Thursday’s and next Sunday’s concerts.
Phone: 760-839-4138
Online: sdtjjazz.org
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