Jazz & Wine and Food Truck Festivals Return to Alton! | Our Daily Show Interview
ALTON – Community members are invited to the ultimate date night on the river at Alton’s Jazz and Wine Festival.
From 6–10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, the Alton Amphitheater will host the festival featuring performances by Kasimu Taylor, Playadors, and Butcher Brown. Wine and charcuterie will be available for purchase. Amphitheater Commissioner Abby Haynes explained that this year’s festival serves as a tribute to Miles Davis.
“Miles should be celebrated,” Haynes said. “What a trailblazer. Miles was never interested in staying where he was. He wanted to move forward. What better place to come and experience jazz like this than in the town where he was born?”
General admission for the festival costs $10. You can pay more to reserve a two-top or four-top table on the stage for a jazz club feel.
Brown Bag Bistro will provide boxes of charcuterie for purchase. You can also enjoy wine by the glass or the bottle. There will be a “wine expert” onsite to teach the volunteers how to pour and serve the wine.
Haynes is especially excited about this year’s lineup. She explained that the commission decided to focus on musicians who embody Davis.
Kasimu Taylor will kick off the evening with the “100 Miles Tribute,” a celebration of St. Louis and East St. Louis musical traditions that would have inspired Davis. Playadors will follow with their “funk fusion”; Haynes said Davis embraced similar experimentation. The evening ends with Butcher Brown, a “recognizable name” that has appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk series.
“While we, of course, appreciate the life that Miles demonstrated, we’re also celebrating how he lives on in jazz,” Haynes explained. “That was really what we kept in mind as we were selecting our artists.”
Haynes hopes the event brings people together for a fun night on the riverfront. She added that the amphitheater commission is dedicated to supporting the community, and their volunteers want to see many people come out and enjoy their events. “Strategy and intention” have guided the commission as they plan their event lineup for 2027.
The Jazz and Wine Festival is an annual favorite, though the Miles Davis theme is new. Local artist Kooliverse will also display his Miles Davis tribute sculpture at the Jazz and Wine Festival. Haynes hopes the homage to Davis will inspire attendees.
“We have the unique opportunity to deliver an experience like this on the riverfront, which you can’t find everywhere,” she added. “We have the 100th anniversary of Miles Davis’s birth, and there’s no way to do Jazz and Wine but to make sure we’re thinking about Miles. So this year, instead of looking back, we are embodying Miles and looking forward with the bands that we selected. They will perform really an embodiment of his innovation. It’s a living legacy of Miles that we’re really focusing on and centering for this.”
For more information about the Jazz and Wine Festival, including how to purchase tickets, view the official webpage. To learn more about the Alton Amphitheater and their upcoming events, visit their official website.
This featured article is sponsored by Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau. To get your business or organization featured on www.RiverBender.com, contact us at sales@riverbender.com.
