• Enjoy jazz outdoors at festivals.trompettes image by indochine from Fotolia.com
  
  South America is a continent full of music-loving people, so it is no surprise that there are a number of jazz and blues festivals held throughout the year there. If you are traveling specifically for festivals, or want to drop in on one while you roam the continent, there are many options. With roots in Andean music, the traditional jazz and blues offered at these festivals are spiked with a flare only South America can provide.
  
  

Jazz Festival Brasil

• The saxophone plays a major role in jazz ensembles.Playing sax during a live jazz session image by Alfonso d"Agostino from Fotolia.com
  
  Since its first year in 2001, Jazz Festival Brasil has been on the move. Different from most festivals, the two-week-long event, held mid-September, travels around the country and has visited five of the main regions in Brazil in up to seven cities. The festival prides itself on keeping to the "roots" of jazz, established from the 1920s to the 1950s. It has played in some of the most exemplary venues Brazil has to offer, including the Teatro Santa Isabel in Recife and the JK Memorial in Brasilia. The festival's main objective is to increase the audience for jazz, and with a following of more than 30,000 people, it is the largest jazz festival in Brazil.
  
  Av. Barao de Melo
  4.500/1402
  Belo Horizonete--MG
  011-31-3296-5624
  jazzfestivalbrasil.com.br
  
  

Rio das Ostras Jazz & Blues Festival

• Rio das Ostras (Oyster City) is located in the beautiful Region of the Lakes, just 170 kilometers from the center of Rio de Janeiro. It boasts 11 beaches, sand banks, islands, preserved mangroves, and a jazz and blues festival that is quickly gaining a reputation for excellence. The free festival, held in mid-June, is put on by the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Secretary of the Rio das Ostras City Hall and has multiple venues. The city has a wide variety of restaurants and an infrastructure ready to handle flocks of tourists and jazz lovers alike.
  
  Rio das Ostras Jazz & Blues Festival
  011-22-2764-7488
  riodasostrasjazzeblues.com/en/
  
  

La Plata Jazz Festival

• La Plata Jazz Festival in Argentina is completely organized by jazz musicians from the city of La Plata. Communities and government agencies worldwide sponsor their artists to go to La Plata to show their talents. The festival, held in April, prides itself on being noncommercial and offers the opportunity to hear talented emerging artists from around the world.
  
  La Plata Jazz Festival
  calle 2 nro 664
  Buenos Aires, 1900
  Argentina
  011-022-1423-2094
  laplatajazzfestival.com.ar/
  
  

El Bolson Jazz Festival

• El Bolson, considered one of Argentina's "hippy towns," is located in a valley flanked by the two mountain ranges Cerro Pittriquitrón and Cordón Nevado. In early December, which is late spring in Argentina, the town hosts the annual El Bolson Jazz Festival with many musicians found locally, from Buenos Aires, and around the world. Odds are that you'll be able to enjoy a beer with your jazz, too, as El Bolson provides 75 percent of the country's hops and has many locally brewed beers waiting for a taste.
  
  elbolsonjazz.com.ar/