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Photographs from the 2021 Orchard Park Jazz Picnic, courtesy of Tom Lassiter

We are excited to announce that the Orchard Park Jazz Picnic will be happening again on June 4, 2022 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at historic Orchard Park near downtown Durham. The first OPJP in June of 2021 was a huge success, in that small, hopeful period of time between vaccinations and the rise of the Delta variant. For many, it was their first outing amongst a gathering of people and/or their first social dances since the beginning of the pandemic.

We were able to crowd fund our basic expenses for permits, port-a-potties, and band pay in order to make this event happen once again – thanks so much to our swing jazz community for supporting this event, which is free and open to the public. Our donors/sponsors are the following:

Raleigh Rolfing (official sponsor)

Sarah Price

Michael Steinman Jazz Lives

Lauren Gibson

Valerie Glassman

Laura Stamm Paye

Lindsley Bowen

Elizabeth A Watkins

Allison Meeks

Jennifer Andrews

Micki McCarthy

Dee Mathews

Eliza Biehl

Audrey Fowler MacInnes

Michelle Long

Gretchen Midgley

Natalie Gabriel

Sue Carson

Gemma Odena

Anne Marie Warren Nolan

Eris Discordia

Jackie O’Neil Plys

Ken Hanson

Alina Kerov

Saira Jane

Abbey Berkebile

Theresa-Marie Rhyne

Mary Lou Mazzara

James Posedel

Alison Matney

Andrew Wilson

Brian Green

Lily Shaw

Andrew Selzer

Cassie Stoa

Andy Nishida

Summerlin Page Webb

Gary A. Miller

Jack Mitchell

Tom Lassiter

For more information and updates, please RSVP or check in with the Facebook event.

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The Mint Julep Jazz Band cordially invites you to a jazz picnic at historic Orchard Park! Join us on June 12, 2021 from noon to 3:00 p.m. for an afternoon of music under the trees, enjoy the provisions in your picnic basket, do a little dancing (pursuant to the current safety guidelines), and then recline on your picnic blanket six feet away from the nearest attendees. This event is all ages and open to the public.

Through crowd funding from our wonderful community, we were able to cover the bare minimum costs of this event, but we will continue to take donations toward musician compensation and any unforeseen expenses – please send your donation to me with a note for “picnic” or “jazz picnic” to Venmo @Laura-Windley or via PayPal at caab241@hotmail.com (select friends and family so there is no fee). We will also have a virtual tip jar at the show and hope that you will support this live music endeavor.

Orchard Park is a park owned by the City of Durham and we want to be sure that the event is enjoyed by everyone and hope that we could potentially do this again. The city’s guidelines are applicable to attendees as follows:

  • Please wear a mask when you are not eating.
  • If you are feeling sick, please stay at home.
  • Please make sure your picnic area is 6 feet away from the nearest groupings of people. If we reach attendance of 100 people, we may ask newcomers to set up in an adjacent section of the park.
  • At this time (4/23/21), the city’s guidelines say “no shaking of hands,” so this means no social dancing. I hope this changes, but make plans to do solo dancing.
  • Hand sanitizer is encouraged, please bring some with you, as we will have port-a-potties and no facilities for hand washing.
  • There is a water fountain at the park, but you should also plan on bringing enough water for the afternoon.
  • Please pick up your trash and dispose of it appropriately; otherwise, Lucian Cobb and Laura Windley will be picking up your trash and that makes for a long day. 

To RSVP to the Orchard Park Jazz Picnic, ask questions, and for more information and updates, please visit our Facebook invite for this event.

Orchard Park is located at 1000 S. Duke Street in Durham, North Carolina.