The story
Bay of Islands Jazz and Blues Festival in Paihia/Russell/Kerikeri
With nearly four decades of history, the Bay of Islands Jazz and Blues Festival brings more than 40 acts to six or seven waterfront venues across Paihia and Russell each August, spanning traditional jazz to contemporary blues over a three-day winter weekend in Northland every year.
The Bay of Islands Jazz and Blues Festival is consistently described in current coverage as having nearly four decades of history, which would place its origins somewhere in the late 1980s, though no source located in research pinned down an exact founding year or a specific founding story, a genuine gap in the festival's documented history despite its long, apparently uninterrupted run.