The Festival started with a small group of local people getting together determined to bring Pershore onto the Jazz circuit. Their idea then was - and still is - to bring quality rather than quantity to the scene and so far they seem to have done just that. At the beginning it was hoped to produce a weekend of jazz music that was free to all and the foundations were laid with the help of generous grants and bucket collections. This was achieved until 2006 ’s festival when, for the first time, a charge had to be made for some of the concerts.

The grants had run out and Pershore Jazz Festival had been so successful that it was encouraged to continue without outside funding. No longer could they have the picnic-style marquee in the grounds of the Angel Inn. Instead the main venue was switched to the award-winning Number 8 in the centre of town.

Then, in a further expansion of the Festival, we moved to the Pershore College Campus. After the positive reaction from all those that attended we decided we had found the ideal place for our needs. In 2007 we used two venue within the campus, in 2008 we used four (including the refectory) and in 2009 we introduced a marquee giving us more room for larger audiences.

last year's festival