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Bitter Jester Music Festival: SEASON TWENTY!!
Discover your next favorite band at Bitter Jester: June 5, 6, 12, 13, & 27, 2026!
WINNER: Best Small Festival (2025 Festy Awards)!
RECIPIENT: 2024 HP Arts Award
Celebrating TWENTY YEARS, The Bitter Jester Music Festival (BJMF) is the nation’s oldest and largest professional multi-state music competition for emerging bands and solo artists from throughout the Midwest and across the United States and into Canada. Attracting entries from nearly half the country, BJMF supports and promotes young and up-and-coming talent from across the Midwest and beyond.
Bitter Jester Music Festival is a 20-year-old, city-sponsored, volunteer-run non-profit committed to putting music first. The festival provides family-friendly, summer-long concerts that are FREE and open to the public! With no restrictions on music genres for artists that apply, BJMF introduces audiences young and old to something new, something fresh, and something fun.
You’ll be sure to discover your next favorite band at Bitter Jester! Oh, and the PARKING IS FREE, too!
Plan your trip by checking out the 360 tour of Port Clinton (plus surrounding parking, shopping, and dining via the menu squares):
