NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Next week, the "Ella Festival" returns to Newport News!
The music festival focuses on the life of the "First Lady of Song," Newport News native and jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald.
A modern-day role model, Fitzgerald was born out of poverty in Newport News in 1917. Her home was just a couple of blocks away from what used to be an all-white high school.
Today, it’s the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center. The 276-seat theater inside bears her name. It's where the 25th Annual Ella Fitzgerald Music Festival will take place from April 20 through 22, 2023.
Performances across the three-day event include the Heritage High Singers and the Christopher Newport University Jazz Ensemble, as well as Good Shot Judy on Friday.
The highlight of the festival is a concert by nationally acclaimed jazz singer Samara Joy, with opening act Kensie B. & Company, on Saturday, April 22.
Fitzgerald, who passed away in 1996, was one of the most popular female jazz singers of all time. She won 13 Grammy awards and sold more than 40 million albums in her lifetime.
Click here for more information and to buy tickets to this year's Ella Festival.