Organizers of the Five Points Jazz Festival are accepting applications for the annual event, which will return in 2022 after two years of being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The free festival, scheduled for June 4, showcases local and national jazz musicians to celebrate the cultural history of the Five Points neighborhood.

Applications are being accepted for performers through Dec. 30 and for a festival producer through Dec. 17. Performances will be one hour long. The producer will assist with band and vendor coordination, set up, clean up, volunteers, permitting, equipment rental and other work.

The festival, put on by Denver Arts and Venues, was canceled in 2021 and forced to go virtual in 2020 due to COVID-19.

“After two long years with no physical festival, we’re thrilled to announce the return of an in-person Five Points Jazz Festival — the first Saturday of June,” said Brooke Dilling, Denver Arts and Venues’ community programming specialist.

Five Points is a historical cultural center of Denver, especially for jazz. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the neighborhood was home to several jazz clubs and venues that hosted legends including Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis.

During this time, the neighborhood was considered the only jazz scene between St. Louis and the West Coast, earning Five Points the nickname “Harlem of the West.”

Applications for performers are available at artsandvenues.com. Applications for festival producers are available at bidnetdirect.com.