Bitter Jester Music Festival - Preliminary Round Concerts (19th Season)

The Bitter Jester Music Festival (BJMF) is the nation’s oldest professional multi-state music competition for emerging bands and solo artists. BJMF supports and promotes young and up-and-coming talent from across the Midwest and beyond.
Established in 2006 as a partnership between the City of Highland Park and the Bitter Jester Foundation for the Arts (a 501(c)(3) non-profit), the annual Bitter Jester Music Festival has been growing steadily since its inception. The festival features a ‘Battle of the Bands’ style competition and multiple opportunities for bands & solo artists from across the Midwest to showcase their talent.
All bands with a majority of members who are under the age of 21 are eligible to apply and the Festival is only accepts about 30% of its applicants into the competition. Cash and other prizes (often including concert tickets, studio time, gear, photo shoots, gift certificates, and more) are provided by numerous generous sponsors. Cash prizes are provided by First Bank of Highland Park.
Select performers coming out of the festival are offered incredible performance opportunities thanks to BJMF’s various partnerships. These include Navy Pier, Chicago Botanic Garden, and opening for a National Headliner at Ravinia Festival on their beautiful Carousel Stage. Additionally – and most importantly – besides the audiences being exposed to fanstic new music they wouldn’t have easily found elsewhere, participants receive a high level of professional feedback from working musicians and media experts. This includes, written, verbal, and numerical feedback as well as free professional audio recordings and concert photography of their sets (and much, much more)!