About the Festival

24 Years of Jazz Fun in Southern Maryland!

The Potomac Jazz & Seafood Festival, one of the Mid-Atlantic’s signature, award-winning jazz events, provides visitors with lots of jazz music, seafood, stunning waterside views and a variety of activities for jazz enthusiasts in both Leonardtown and St. Clement's Island Museum in Colton's Point, Maryland, where visitors are encouraged to relax waterside on the scenic museum lawn and enjoy national jazz artists, lots of delicious local seafood and gorgeous views of the Potomac and St. Clement’s Island.

This popular, annual festival, which has become known for over two decades for showcasing local culinary delicacies of Maryland’s Mother County in addition to renowned, national jazz talent, draws close to 1000 jazz enthusiasts every year. The event, beginning back in 1999, was expanded to a 3-day weekend event in partnership with the nearby Town of Leonardtown in 2019 for its 20th Anniversary. The 20th anniversary festival was recognized by the Maryland Office of Tourism’s “Maximizing Opportunities Award” – the only event in Maryland to receive this distinction.

Proceeds from this event go towards funding the non-profit Friends of St. Clement’s Island & Piney Point Museums’ mission of supporting the museums and historic sites under the care of the St. Mary’s County Museum Division. The event’s major partners include the Friends of St. Clement’s Island & Piney Point Museums, St. Mary’s County Museum Division, the St. Mary’s County Arts Council, Visit St. Mary’s MD and more.