Jazz Reggae Festival held at UCLA is a great way to spend the Memorial Day weekend. The two-day event highlights all-day performance of various artists, wide variety of delicious ethnic foods, and just a chill crowd of people to share the experience with.

This student-run event began in 1986 as a relatively small concert that provided opportunity for student musicians to perform in front of an audience. But as the event grew in size and more musicians were invited from elsewhere to perform, it is now considered one of LA’s essential annual event that offers not only jazz/reggae music, but also live interactive art (live graffiti, Henna Tattoo, etc), and gallery, featuring famous works of LA artists.

Food is provided by over 70 vendors of all sorts of cultural foods surrounding the crowd. Some of the cultures featured are Ethiopian, Jamaican, Chinese, Caribbean, Greek, Mediterranean, Japanese, Hawaiian, Thai, and many more. All sorts of fair food cravings can also be found: funnel cakes, shaved ice, lemonade, burgers, fries, smoothies, cotton candy, and even deep-fried apple pie!

This year the festival featured artists Common, Santigold, Jhene Aiko and others.

Discounted tickets and free tickets are available to all UCLA students with valid Bruin Card! So if you missed it this year, make plans to go check it out next year!