ColaJazz & Roots Fest is Columbia’s cultural blueprint in sound. Each year, the Governor Award–winning ColaJazz Foundation (2021) brings jazz and roots traditions together to shape the city’s rhythm—downtown streets, neighborhood pride, and a shared sense of belonging. Free Times readers named it Best Music Event (2021).

Since 2018, the festival has hosted artists like Wynton Marsalis, Chris Potter, Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson, Scotty Barnhart (Count Basie Orchestra), Liz Rosa, Dante Lewis, Wycliffe Gordon, Fred Wesley, Carl Allen, Allison Miller, Houston Person, Dr. Mitch Butler, Aimee Nolte, Don Braden, Patrick Bartley, Brittany Turnipseed, Amos Hoffman, Chris Reed, Gino Castillo, Reggie Sullivan and more—and spotlighting the deep bench of musicians from across South Carolina.

Trumpeter and jazz educator Mark Rapp founded ColaJazz to connect the state’s jazz scene and expand access for audiences of every age. We bring in global voices. We amplify homegrown brilliance. Together, we keep Columbia’s renaissance in motion—one note at a time.