The Detroit Jazz Festival is the world's largest free jazz festival, held downtown every Labor Day weekend since 1980. Four stages — at Hart Plaza and Campus Martius — host more than a hundred performances across four days, drawing major international names along with the deep Detroit jazz scene. Past artist-in-residence appointments have included Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny, and Dee Dee Bridgewater.
Bring a folding chair, plan to wander between stages, eat at the food trucks. Hotel rooms in town fill up. The festival is genuinely free — no ticket required for general admission.