Plan Your Four Days at the San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival

Four days, four stages, two countries, and only one ticket in the whole run.

The San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival is the first jazz festival built to run on both sides of the US and Mexico border, and it moves from East Village to Avenida Revolución to Escondido and back again. Here is how the four days break down.

Quartyard: Jungle Fire Closes a Free Opening Night

Opening night is free and standing room, all ages, with three sets back to back. The Binational Youth Ensemble starts things off, a high school band pulled from San Diego and Ensenada under trumpeters Gilbert Castellanos and Iván Trujillo.

Colectivo Fronterizo makes its US debut next with Ensenada rapera Fémina Fatal. Then Jungle Fire closes on Afro-Latin funk built from Fela Kuti, Ray Barretto, and James Brown, an eight-piece band that has played the Hollywood Bowl and Havana’s Jazz Plaza.

📆 Thursday, October 1 | 5 PM – 9 PM
📍 1301 Market St #3, San Diego

Calle 4: Punk Jazz and Salsa South of the Border

The festival crosses south for a free outdoor night. Colectivo Fronterizo returns with Fémina Fatal, and punk jazz quartet Señales Selañes brings noise, garage rock, and psychedelia into the mix.

Charlie Chávez y su Afrotruko closes on salsa, mambo, boleros, and chachachá. Chávez leads a binational band with vocalists and players from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela, and Peru.

📆 Friday, October 2 | 5 PM – 9 PM
📍 Calle 4 & Avenida Revolución, Tijuana

California Center for the Arts: Brian Blade and Mingus Dynasty Indoors

This is the only ticketed day and the one to build your weekend around. The outdoor stage stays free all day and opens with Charlie Chávez y su Afrotruko.

Your Festival Pass covers three indoor sets: Danilo Pérez with the SDSU Jazz Ensembles, the seven-piece Mingus Dynasty out of New York, and Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band closing the night. Mingus Dynasty pulls from “Tijuana Moods,” the 1957 album Charles Mingus wrote after finding inspiration in Mexico.

The dinner break brings Tacos Barrios and Ritchie’s Burgers outside while Lucía and the Familia Gutiérrez play Son Jarocho free. A $125 Friends of the Festival add-on gets you premium parking, the Cantina on the Green, and a rancho-style dinner from North County chef Juan González of Mesa Agricola.

📆 Saturday, October 3 | 2 PM – 9:30 PM
📍 340 N Escondido Blvd, Escondido
🎟️ Get your tickets here

Calle 5: The Headliners Play the Closing Day for Free

The last day is free and stacked. The Binational Youth Ensemble opens, Lucía and the Familia Gutiérrez follow with her father, requinto player and zapateado dancer Ramón Gutiérrez.

Then the headliners return: Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Danilo Pérez with Ensenada’s La Covacha Big Band. Bring your passport and leave yourself room coming back through San Ysidro.

📆 Sunday, October 4 | 2 PM – 9:30 PM
📍 Calle 5 & Avenida Revolución, Tijuana