Downtown St. Charles is trading its usual Fox River quiet for saxophone riffs and brass sections this weekend, as the 15th annual St. Charles Jazz Weekend kicks off Thursday and runs through Sunday, Sept. 13, spreading more than 50 live performances across 29 venues in the historic riverside downtown.
The four-day run, as reported by Shaw Local, threads jazz sets through breweries, coffee shops, a historic theater, a church and a hotel dining room, turning the whole downtown into a rotating stage. Frank Catalano, described as a three-time Grammy winner, is among the lineup with three separate performances, opening Thursday at The Filling Station Pub & Grill before late-night sets Friday and Saturday at The House Pub, according to a Facebook post from the saxophonist, who has been a recurring festival draw for years.
Public Radio WDCB 90.9 FM is serving as an official media sponsor again this year and is hosting the festival's official opening night party Thursday, featuring the Andy Schlinder Trio at Brother Chimp Brewing, per a WDCB Facebook announcement. The College of DuPage-based station bills itself as Chicagoland's primary public jazz outlet, giving the weekend regional radio reach beyond the Fox Valley.
A New Outdoor Beer Garden Anchors Saturday
The festival's centerpiece outdoor stage, the 1st Street Plaza, hosts the weekend's headline attraction: Jazz on Tap, a Saturday-only beverage area running from noon to 6 p.m. that lets guests grab a beer or cocktail from one of five surrounding businesses — Alter Brewing + Kitchen, La Mesa Modern Mexican, McNally's Irish Pub & Kitchen, La Za'za' Trattoria and Gia Mia — while listening to live music, per the same Shaw Local report. That plaza itself is the product of a multi-million dollar city expansion that permanently converted part of 1st Street into a pedestrian plaza, with the City of St. Charles investing more than $4 million to enhance downtown walkable space before the project fully opened in 2024, according to an earlier Shaw Local report.
Saturday afternoon also brings student musicians into the spotlight, with the STC North High School Jazz Workshop, led by Jimmy Farace, performing from noon to 12:45 p.m., followed by the STC East High School Jazz Workshop with Miles Smith from 2 to 2:45 p.m., both on the 1st Street Plaza stage. The Abram Collier Nonet takes the same stage from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, while the Blueshift Big Band with Abram Collier — a separate performance not part of Jazz on Tap — closes out the plaza's run from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Grammy History Meets Fox River Fine Dining
The festival's historic venues carry their own weight. The 900-seat Arcada Theatre, a participating venue and prize partner for this year's check-in challenge, opened on Labor Day, Sept. 6, 1926, as a vaudeville and silent film house, built by local millionaires Lester and Dellora Norris, and marked its 100th anniversary this month, according to Onesti Entertainment. A few blocks away, ROX at Hotel Baker has offered regular live entertainment since 2003, per a Facebook post from the hotel.
For something more genteel, waterfront restaurant The Graceful Ordinary scheduled its annual Jazz High Tea for Saturday, offering live jazz, pastries and savory canapés from Chef Chris Curren alongside specialty teas from The Irie Cup, with tickets priced at $66 for adults and $42 for children. The ticketed affair, reported by Shaw Local, offers a sit-down counterpoint to the festival's free outdoor stages. Even the St. Charles Public Library is getting in on the action, hosting a jazz concert as part of its Sunday Concert Series on Sept. 13, according to the library.
Check In Three Times, Win a $200 Prize
Organizers are also running a check-in challenge for attendees willing to make a weekend of it. Anyone who checks in to three or more performances through the Jazz Weekend Challenge, found under the Challenges tab after downloading the Travel St. Charles app, is entered to win one of three prizes, each a gift card to the Arcada Theatre and a St. Charles restaurant valued at $200. The St. Charles Business Alliance will notify the three winners by email on Sept. 16, and the challenge is only visible during the event's four days, per Shaw Local's reporting.
“Each year, we see this event grow, with more performances and more amazing local businesses getting involved,” St. Charles Business Alliance Executive Director Jenna Sawicki told Shaw Local. The Alliance, formed in 2019 through a merger of the Downtown St. Charles Partnership and the Greater St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Part of a Bigger Festival Calendar
Jazz Weekend is part of a broader festival calendar in St. Charles. Downtown merchants lean heavily on that recurring calendar of weekend events to drive sales, and the timing lines up with continued development along the Fox River corridor. For a downtown built on riverfront dining and entertainment, a weekend that fills 29 venues with live music is as much an economic engine as it is a cultural one.
