Panama Jazz Festival Sets Its 24th Edition for January 2027
Panama · MUSIC
Key Facts
- The dates 14 to 16 January 2027, three days.
- The edition The 24th.
- The dedication Jimmy Maxwell, the Panamanian bandleader.
- The venues Teatro Ateneo, Plaza de Ciudad del Saber, Teatro El Dorado and others.
- The closing A concert at the Cuadrángulo Central.
- The lead time Announced five months ahead, which is unusually early.
Three days in January, dedicated to a Panamanian bandleader, across half a dozen venues. Plan the trip now, not in December.
The Panama Jazz Festival has set its 24th edition for 14 to 16 January 2027. It is dedicated to Jimmy Maxwell and spreads across venues in Panama City.
What has been announced
The Panama Jazz Festival will hold its 24th edition from 14 to 16 January 2027.
The edition is dedicated to Jimmy Maxwell, a figure in Panamanian music whose name the festival is putting front and centre.
Announced venues include the Teatro Ateneo, the Plaza de Ciudad del Saber, the Teatro El Dorado, Rock and Folk and La Plaza.
The closing concert is set for the Cuadrángulo Central, the open space at the heart of the Ciudad del Saber campus.
Why Ciudad del Saber
Ciudad del Saber, the City of Knowledge, occupies the former Fort Clayton, a US military base handed to Panama with the canal.
It is now a campus of universities, NGOs and technology companies, with open plazas that suit outdoor concerts.
The Panama Jazz Festival has used it as its base for years, which is why the closing concert lands there.
The setting is part of the festival’s identity: a converted base hosting a music education programme is not an accident of geography.
It is a school as much as a festival
The Panama Jazz Festival is unusual in that its educational programme is not an add-on.
It runs clinics, masterclasses and auditions for scholarships to conservatories abroad, and those auditions are the reason many students attend.
That structure comes from its founder, the Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez, who built the festival around access rather than programming alone.
For a family with a music student, this is a different proposition from a normal festival weekend.
What the festival grew into
The Panama Jazz Festival began in 2003 and has become the largest jazz event in Central America.
It draws audiences from across the isthmus and a steady stream of students from the wider region.
Its scale is modest against the European festivals, and that is part of why the teaching side survived.
Three days is short. The programme is dense enough that the length is not the constraint.
Who Jimmy Maxwell was
Jimmy Maxwell is a name from Panama’s mid-century big band era, when the country had an active dance-band circuit.
Dedicating an edition to a bandleader rather than a soloist says something about what the festival is preserving.
We could not verify his biography against an authoritative source, so we are not going to print dates or a discography.
The dedication itself is confirmed. The detail behind it should come from the festival’s own material closer to the date.
What has not been published
No line-up has been announced. For a January festival announced in August, that is normal.
No ticket prices have been published either, and no on-sale date.
The full venue schedule, showing which act plays where, will follow later.
So this is a date to hold rather than a trip to book.
Why the early announcement helps
Mid-January is high season in Panama, and it is dry season, which is the reason the festival sits there.
Flights and hotels for that window fill early, particularly from North America and Europe.
Five months of notice is enough to book both at a sensible price, which is presumably the point.
Panama City is also one of the region’s easiest hubs to reach, with Copa connecting most of Latin America through Tocumen.
Practical notes
Panama uses the US dollar alongside the balboa at parity, so there is no currency conversion to worry about.
January weather is dry and hot, and evenings outdoors are comfortable.
Ciudad del Saber sits west of the city centre near the canal, about twenty minutes by car from the banking district.
Most nationalities enter Panama visa-free for tourism, but check your own case before booking.
What we will update
The line-up, once announced, and the ticket prices and on-sale date.
The scholarship audition schedule, which matters most to the students who travel for it.
Any change to the venue list. Festival venue lists announced five months out often shift.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Panama Jazz Festival 2027?
From 14 to 16 January 2027, its 24th edition, across venues in Panama City.
Who is it dedicated to?
Jimmy Maxwell, the Panamanian bandleader. The dedication was announced with the dates.
Where does it take place?
Announced venues include the Teatro Ateneo, the Plaza de Ciudad del Saber and the Teatro El Dorado. Rock and Folk and La Plaza also appear on the list.
Are tickets on sale?
No prices or on-sale date have been published, and no line-up has been announced. The dates and venues are what is confirmed so far.
Sources
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