TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsJava Jazz 2026 offers the comfort of a familiar chorus
Through new venues, shifting tastes and an evolving live music landscape, thousands continue to make the pilgrimage to a festival that has become a fixture of Indonesia’s cultural calendar.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Genre blender: Grammy-winning American musician Jon Batiste puts on a diverse show ranging from jazz-infused classical pieces to dance-oriented pop tunes on May 30, 2026, during his Indonesian debut at the International Java Jazz Festival 2026 at the Nusantara International Convention Exhibition (NICE) in Tangerang, Banten. (Courtesy of Java Festival Production/-)
I
t was a rare sight as thousands flocked to Pantai Indah Kapuk 2 (PIK 2) from Friday to Sunday, braving the long commute north with one destination in mind: three days of jazz, soul, R&B and everything in between.
Inside the shiny halls of the Nusantara International Convention Exhibition (NICE), jazz tunes flowed in the night as festivalgoers swooned to R&B crooners like Ella Mai and Daniel Caesar and were charmed yet again by local favorites like Dira Sugandi and Andien.
The scenes felt reassuringly familiar at a festival that has returned with remarkable consistency for more than two decades. Only the COVID-19 pandemic could stop the show from going on in 2021.
Even so, the International Java Jazz Festival 2026 comes at a challenging time for a live music industry that has seen several major festivals scale back operations and postpone annual showings since last year, due to rising production costs and a changing market landscape.
Java Jazz is a whole other organism, though. Since its founding in 2005, the three-day festival has become the country's most dependable cultural fixture and grown into one of the world’s largest jazz events, regularly attracting international headliners while introducing artists and genres that audiences might not encounter otherwise.
“We go on stage with no set list at all, and that's what we've honed over the years.” — Kenny Gabriel, synth bassist, Batavia Collective
This year was no different. Entering its 21st year, the biggest changes the festival organizers made were largely logistical: Java Jazz has now moved from its home at the Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, to the new NICE complex at PIK 2 in Tangerang, Banten.
More from The Weekender
What women want, and the gap men are still trying to close
While millennial and Gen Z women were raised to chase careers, the same generation of men were not taught to do chores or be vulnerable. How can men step up?
Idul Fitri without the excess: Finding the real meaning of Hari Raya
We're scaling back the festivities and finding more meaning this Idul Fitri.
Show up, show off and call it self-care: Strong is the new flex
With toned arms as the new status symbol, maybe it’s time we rethink why we come to the gym and pick up those dumbbells.
