Caddo Parish Louisiana Highland Jazz and Blues Festival
Columbia Park fills with music on a Saturday in September, and the sound carries across the Highland neighborhood of Shreveport. The Highland Jazz and Blues Festival, printed in some layers as the Highland Jazz & Blues Festival, turns a neighborhood park into a day-long gathering built around live jazz and blues. Three stages share the park, food and artisan vendors line the walkways, children have a space of their own, and dogs are welcome in the pet area. Admission costs nothing, and the crowd is a mix of Highland residents, visitors from across Caddo Parish, and music lovers who travel in for the day. The twenty-second annual edition took place on Saturday, September 19, 2026, from ten in the morning until six in the evening, with Dumpstaphunk headlining. That combination, a free neighborhood festival with a serious musical lineup, explains why the event has lasted more than two decades in the same park.
About
The Highland Jazz and Blues Festival is a community music festival held in Columbia Park in the Highland neighborhood of Shreveport, Louisiana. Shreveport is the parish seat of Caddo Parish. The festival was created by the Highland Area Partnership, Inc., a neighborhood organization, and it has stayed in the neighborhood where it began. The documented creators of the event are Robert “Bob” Marak, Amy Loe and Kenneth Koonce. Their idea was a festival that would bring live jazz and blues into a public park and open it to everyone, with no ticket price in the way.
The setting shapes the character of the day. Columbia Park is a neighborhood green space rather than a fairground or a downtown plaza, so the festival feels closer to a large park gathering than to a commercial event. Families spread blankets on the grass and the music moves between three stages through the afternoon. More than seventy food and artisan vendors take part, and the children’s area and pet area give the day a family shape that a concert alone would not have.
The festival is free. Every layer read agrees that the 2026 edition charged no admission, and free entry is part of the event’s identity rather than a one-year offer. The 2026 edition ran for a single Saturday, from ten in the morning until six in the evening, with Dumpstaphunk as headliner, and the encyclopedia layer places the festival on the third Saturday of September, a pattern the September 19, 2026 date fits.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
| Festival | Highland Jazz and Blues Festival |
| Host town | Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Parish seat | Shreveport is the parish seat of Caddo Parish |
| Venue | Columbia Park, Highland neighborhood, Shreveport |
| Created by | Highland Area Partnership, Inc. |
| Creators | Robert “Bob” Marak, Amy Loe and Kenneth Koonce |
| First held | 2003 |
| 2026 edition | Twenty-second annual, Saturday, September 19, 2026 |
| Hours | Ten in the morning until six in the evening |
| Admission | Free |
History
The festival began in 2003, when the Highland Area Partnership, Inc. created a neighborhood music event in Columbia Park. The documented creators were Robert “Bob” Marak, Amy Loe and Kenneth Koonce, and the event they built was deliberately local: live jazz and blues, played outdoors in the neighborhood where the organizers lived and worked, with no admission charge. That first edition set the pattern the festival has followed ever since, a single September day in the park, music across several stages, and vendors drawn from the surrounding community.
For a useful comparison, see the Caddo Parish Louisiana Red River Revel Arts Festival for another county festival.
Over the years that followed, the festival grew from a neighborhood gathering into one of Shreveport’s established annual music events, while keeping its park setting and its free admission. The encyclopedia layer describes it as a third-Saturday-of-September event, and the 2026 edition fell on Saturday, September 19, 2026, squarely in that pattern.
The one break in the run came in 2020, when there was no festival, and the festival returned afterward to its September place in Columbia Park. By the twenty-second annual edition, it had outlasted many larger and better-funded gatherings without leaving the park or charging admission.
What to Expect
Arrive at Columbia Park expecting a park day with a soundtrack. The festival runs from ten in the morning until six in the evening, and the music moves across three stages through the day. Jazz and blues share the schedule, and the 2026 headliner, Dumpstaphunk, closed the kind of day the festival is built around: a long afternoon of live performance in the open air, with the crowd free to drift between stages. The three-stage layout means there is almost always music playing somewhere in the park, and visitors can choose between settling near one stage or wandering.
Food and artisan vendors are a large part of the experience. More than seventy vendors took part in the 2026 edition, selling food alongside handmade and artisan goods, and the vendor rows reward a slow walk. The children’s area gives younger visitors their own space, and the pet area means dogs can come along for the day. Because admission is free, the crowd is easygoing about coming and going.
The park setting keeps the atmosphere relaxed, with shade trees, open grass and neighborhood streets around the stages. Bring a blanket or a folding chair if you plan to stay near a stage, and bring sun protection for the midday hours.
Planning Your Visit
Plan around a single Saturday in September, with the festival running from ten in the morning until six in the evening. The encyclopedia layer places the event on the third Saturday of September, and the 2026 edition followed that pattern on September 19, 2026. Because no admission is charged, there is nothing to buy in advance and no ticket to collect at the gate. That simplicity is worth building the day around: arrive when you like, leave when you like, and let the music set the pace.
Columbia Park sits in the Highland neighborhood of Shreveport, a residential area with its own streets and rhythms. Arrive early if you want a good spot near a stage, since the grass fills as the afternoon goes on. Wear comfortable shoes for walking the vendor rows and the paths between the three stages, and carry water for the warm September hours. A blanket or folding chair makes a long stay near one stage comfortable, and a hat or sunscreen helps through the middle of the day. The children’s area and the pet area are there for families and dogs.
Food is available from the vendors throughout the day, so there is no need to plan meals around leaving the park. Keep the day flexible: the best moments often come from following the music from one stage to another rather than from holding to a fixed plan.
A Sample Day at the Festival
A good day begins at ten in the morning, when the first sets start. Arrive early, find a patch of grass near one of the three stages, and settle in with a blanket or a folding chair. The opening hours are the calmest part of the day, with room to move and the vendor rows still easy to browse. Spend the first hour listening and learning the park layout.
By midday, the park is full and the music is rolling across all three stages. Walk the vendor rows while the sun is high, sample food from the stalls, and look through the artisan goods. More than seventy vendors fill the park, and the children’s area and pet area are worth a stop along the way. Early afternoon is the right time to drift between stages, catching part of one set and then moving on to the next sound that pulls you across the grass.
The late afternoon belongs to the headliner. In 2026 that meant Dumpstaphunk, and the closing hours carry the most energy, with the crowd gathered close and the music at its fullest. Stay through the final set if you can, since the last hour is when the festival feels most like a single shared room under the sky. As six in the evening approaches, the music winds down and the park begins to empty, with neighbors drifting home through Highland’s streets.
How It Compares
The Highland festival stands apart from larger music gatherings in the way it uses its setting. A multi-day festival in a downtown plaza or a fairground is built for scale, with fenced grounds, ticket gates and a schedule that runs late into the night. Columbia Park works the other way: a single Saturday, a neighborhood green, no ticket and no fence, with the music free to anyone who walks in. That difference shapes everything about the day, from the easygoing crowd to the way families and dogs fit naturally into the park.
The three-stage layout also sets the festival apart from a single-stage concert. Instead of one performance holding the whole audience, the park offers choices, and the day becomes a matter of wandering between sounds. The vendor mix reinforces the same point. More than seventy food and artisan vendors give the festival a market character alongside its musical one, so the day is as much about browsing and eating as it is about listening.
Compared with ticketed events, free admission changes who comes and how long they stay: visitors arrive when they like and leave when they like. The festival has lasted more than two decades in the same park because the neighborhood keeps coming back, not because it chases the largest possible audience.
Checklist
- Arrive early for a good spot near one of the three stages
- Bring a blanket or a folding chair for the grass
- Carry water and sun protection for the September afternoon
- Wear comfortable shoes for walking between stages and vendor rows
- Plan time to browse more than seventy food and artisan vendors
- Visit the children’s area if you are bringing young ones
- Use the pet area if you are bringing a dog
- Remember that admission is free, so no ticket is needed
- Stay through the late afternoon for the headliner set
- Allow time to wander Highland’s streets before heading home
Beyond the Festival
The Highland neighborhood rewards a slow look around. Its streets are lined with older homes and shade trees, and the area around Columbia Park has the feel of a settled residential district rather than a tourist quarter. A walk through Highland before or after the festival gives a sense of the neighborhood that created the event and still hosts it. The park itself is worth visiting on an ordinary day to see the ground the festival fills each September.
Shreveport, the parish seat of Caddo Parish, sits nearby with its own music history and its riverfront, and the festival is one thread in a larger local culture of live performance. Visitors who stay for the weekend can explore the city’s parks, its historic districts and its food, but the festival itself is the reason to be in Highland on that Saturday. The event is rooted in one place, and the neighborhood is part of what makes it worth the trip.
Why It Matters
The Highland Jazz and Blues Festival matters because it has kept live music free and local for more than two decades. Created in 2003 by the Highland Area Partnership, Inc., and shaped by Robert “Bob” Marak, Amy Loe and Kenneth Koonce, the festival began as a neighborhood idea and grew into a Shreveport institution without losing its original character. Free admission means the music belongs to everyone in the park, and the neighborhood setting means the event answers to the people who live around it.
The festival also matters as a keeper of musical traditions. Jazz and blues are living forms in Louisiana, and a day devoted to them in a public park keeps those sounds in the open, where new listeners can stumble across them. The children’s area and the pet area widen the circle further, making the festival a family day rather than a concert for specialists. A community that gathers around music each September builds something that outlasts any single performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Columbia Park the right home for this festival?
Columbia Park sits in the Highland neighborhood of Shreveport, and the festival was created by a neighborhood organization for that park. The green space, the shade and the residential streets around it give the event a relaxed, open character that a fairground or a downtown plaza would not. The park is not a backdrop; it is the reason the day feels the way it does.
What should I know before bringing a pet along?
The festival includes a pet area, so a dog can come along for the day. Bring water for your dog as well as for yourself, keep the animal comfortable in the September warmth, and use the pet area as the plan intends.
What will I find among the vendors?
More than seventy food and artisan vendors took part in the 2026 edition, selling food alongside handmade and artisan goods. The vendor rows are a large part of the day, so allow time to walk them slowly rather than rushing past on the way between stages.
How has the festival lasted more than twenty years in the same park?
It began in 2003 with a simple idea: free live jazz and blues in a neighborhood park, created by the Highland Area Partnership, Inc. The festival survived a missed year in 2020 and returned to its September place in Columbia Park. Staying free, staying local and staying in the same park gave the event a steady audience that keeps coming back.
What to Expect From the Next Caddo Parish Louisiana Highland Jazz and Blues Festival
How often is Caddo Parish Louisiana Highland Jazz and Blues Festival held?
The festival comes around each September, with the encyclopedia layer placing it on the third Saturday of the month. The 2026 edition followed that pattern on September 19, 2026.
When is the next Caddo Parish Louisiana Highland Jazz and Blues Festival?
No date for the following edition has been published in the material reviewed here. The pattern to watch is the third Saturday of September, the timing the 2026 edition followed, with hours from ten in the morning until six in the evening and admission free.
Will the dates change?
The September pattern has held steady across the festival’s history, with the encyclopedia layer placing the event on the third Saturday of September. A change is always possible, so the wise approach is to look for the next edition’s announcement as September approaches rather than assuming the same Saturday.
The Highland Jazz and Blues Festival is a reminder that a great music day does not need a ticket, a fence or a fairground. It needs a park, three stages, vendors who know their craft, and a neighborhood willing to gather around live jazz and blues each September. Columbia Park has hosted that gathering since 2003, and the twenty-second annual edition in 2026 showed the idea in full: Dumpstaphunk headlining, more than seventy vendors, children and dogs welcome, and the music free to everyone who walked in.
