The North Sea Jazz Festival, the world’s largest indoor music festival, have confirmed over 70 acts for the line-up for this year’s event. Attracting around 80,000 music fans each year, the festival has built a legendary reputation since its debut in 1976, having welcomed iconic artists like Miles Davis, Prince, Ella Fitzgerald, Amy Winehouse, and Adele. This summer, the three-day event will feature over 1000 musicians, with 150 performances spread across 15 stages. Taking place in Rotterdam – just an hour’s flight away or a direct train from London St Pancras – the North Sea Jazz Festival offers a unique experience unlike any festival in the UK and has become a popular choice for British festivalgoers.
Taking place from Friday 11th – Sunday 13th July 2025, this year’s festival will return to the Ahoy Centre in Rotterdam featuring a star-studded line-up of international talent alongside a selection of the most celebrated up-and-coming artists spanning jazz, blues, soul, pop, and more.
The line-up is full of stars from across the jazz spectrum, including legendary pianist Herbie Hancock, the legendary Queen of Motown Diana Ross, who will close the festival on Sunday 13th July, multi-million-selling US singer, songwriter and pianist Norah Jones, 4x Brit Award-nominated Ezra Collective, nine-time Grammy winning Mary J. Blige, R&B sensation Jorja Smith, visionary U.S. saxophonist Kamasi Washington, retro soul group Thee Sacred Souls, UK sax star Nubya Garcia, soul-jazz singer Celeste, rising jazz vocal star Samara Joy, multi-talented New Zealand artist Jordan Rakei, neo-soul legend Maxwell, powerhouse vocalist Lady Blackbird, blues-rock guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa with the Metropole Orkest, globally acclaimed sitar maestro Anoushka Shankar, spiritual jazz vocalist Ganavya, soulful Uganda-born, UK-based singer-songwriter Victor Ray, Afrobeats sensation Omah Lay, and LA-based poet, writer, lyricist, and activist Aja Monet, Chicago-based drummer, composer, and producer Makaya McCraven, acclaimed soul duo MRCY, idiosyncratic New York singer ANOHNI & The Johnsons, and the Grammy-winning drummer and bandleader Terri Lyne Carrington.
This year’s program is anchored by Jacob Collier, the festival’s 2025 Artist in Residence. The seven-time Grammy Award winner will take the stage across all three days, offering a diverse array of performances that highlight his much-talked-about musical versatility.
The festival will once again present the very best contemporary jazz artists from around the world including Cory Wong, Julian Lage, Tigran Hamasyan, Kurt Elling & Yellowjackets celebrating Weather Report, trumpeter Avishai Cohen’s Quartet, Jazzmeia Horn, Lionel Hampton Big Band featuring Jason Marsalis, Snarky Puppy alumni Robert “Sput” Searight and Nate Werth’s fusion outfit Ghost-Note, Immanuel Wilkins, Branford Marsalis, Lakecia Benjamin, Melissa Aldana, Emmet Cohen Quartet, Daoud, Johnathan Blake, Sullivan Fortner, Alfredo Rodríguez Quintet, Christie Dashiell, David Murray, Lee Ritenour, Ambrose Akinmusire, Mark Turner Quartet, Nduduzo Makhathini, Linda Sikhakhane Quartet, The Cookers and many more.
Full line-up to date is below and additional names will be announced in due course.
NN North Sea Jazz Festival 2025 – Rotterdam Ahoy Centre
Friday 11th July: Mary J Blige • Avishai Cohen (trumpet) Quartet • Branford Marsalis Quartet • DeWolff • Ezra Collective • Jacob Collier (artist in residence) • Jordan Rakei • Judith Hill • Julian Lage • Madeleine Peyroux • Omah Lay • Victor Ray
ANOHNI & The Johnsons • Arp Frique & The Perpetual Singers • Bnnyhunna • Dana & Alden • Daoud • Emmet Cohen Trio feat. Patrick Bartley • Ganavya • Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge • Herbie Hancock • Jerron Paxton • Johnathan Blake & Pentad • Julie Campiche Quartet • Melissa Aldana Quartet • Sullivan Fortner Trio • The Philharmonik • Van Bavel Teepe Jackson • Zoh Amba Sun Quartet
Saturday 12th July: Aja Monet • Fujii Kaze • Ghost-Note • Jacob Collier (artist in residence) • Joe Bonamassa & Metropole Orkest • Jonathan Jeremiah • Lionel Hampton Big Band featuring Jason Marsalis • Mary Halvorson Amaryllis Sextet • Maxwell • Naomi Sharon • Samara Joy
Alfredo Rodríguez Quintet • Bela Fleck, Edmar Castaneda, Antonio Sanchez • BLK ODYSSY • Celeste • Cory Wong • Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, Adam Cruz • David Murray Quartet • Lee Ritenour • Mark Turner Quartet • Matteo Mancuso • MRCY • Nduduzo Makhathini • Queralt Lahoz • Sanne Sanne Song • Yi Jeon Nonet & Samulnori Newdot • Terri Lyne Carrington ‘We Insist’
Sunday 13th July: Anoushka Shankar • Diana Ross • Immanuel Wilkins Quartet • Jacob Collier (artist in residence), Jazzmeia Horn • Jorja Smith • Kamasi Washington • Kurt Elling & Yellowjackets celebrate Weather Report • Lady Blackbird • Lakecia Benjamin • Norah Jones • Thee Sacred Souls • Tigran Hamasyan
The NN North Sea Jazz Festival runs from Friday 11th – Sunday 13th July 2025
