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MIAMI GARDENS (CBSMiami) — The festival that has been dubbed the fastest growing jazz and R&B festival in the U.S. is back on this weekend at Hard Rock Stadium. It’s the 15th Annual Jazz in the Gardens Music Fest.
Wednesday crews gathered to set up for the annual two-day festival, which started back in 2005.
The first Mayor of Miami Gardens, Shirley Gibson, wanted to bring the community together and since then, it has completely evolved and grown.
“It was very small the first time we did it. We only had about 2500 people,” said Shirley Gibson, the first mayor of Miami Gardens and creator of Jazz in the Gardens.
When Miami Gardens became a city in 2003, Gibson wanted to create an event that would bring people in the area together and have something to be excited about.
“I am very emotional about it, in the sense that it grew and it’s very successful,” said Gibson.
This will be the first-time artists take the stage since 2019. There was no festival the past two years because of COVID.
April RaQuel, a local artist performed in 2016 and she says it was transformative for her career.
“Rarely do you get an opportunity to really be the star, to be like an artist. There’s a lot of clout that comes with just even being associated with Jazz in the Gardens,” said RaQuel.
It’s not how the festival first started out.
“We had a hard time getting some of the acts to get down here because at the time it was slow,” recalled Gibson.
This weekend, big names like Mary J. Blige and Rick Ross are a couple of the headliners.
“Every time we had it, we grew it,” said Gibson.
“I mean we’re talking 2500 people-ish when this event first took off. To now 30,000 people per day that come. That is incredible, mind blowing,” said RaQuel.
Something that started so small, Gibson says, has not only become a staple to the community, but the state.
“We have never had anything like this in Miami-Dade County with a predominate black population. We’ve never had it. So, we have to be proud of that. I am just a happy woman,” said Gibson.
Gibson says she’s happy to have the festival back after losing two years to COVID and because it will help grow the economy between set builders, hotels, local restaurants and more.
Gibson says she will be there watching the show, that she created.