Jazz in the Gardens

Presented by the City of Miami Gardens, Jazz in the Gardens has grown to become one of the most highly regarded and anticipated music festival events in the country. Last year, more than 70,000 fans attended, attracting both locals and thousands of out-of-towners to the beautiful City of Miami Gardens. Previous years have included celebrated artists such as Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, John Legend, Robin Thicke, Wyclef, Fantasia, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Chaka Khan, Common, Anthony Hamilton, Lauryn Hill, New Edition, EnVogue, Branford Marsalis, Boyz II Men, Ne-Yo, Earth Wind & Fire, Charlie Wilson, Monica, Fantasia, Najee, Nicole Henry and Mary Mary.

Details

As the public relations director for the 8th and 9th edition of the festival, Elvis Anderson helped to grow the festival’s media reach beyond the stage. By creating new story angles and pitching #JITG as a travel destination and foodie event, the festival garnered never before media coverage from publications such as the NY Post, NY Daily News, SHAPE and shermanstravel.com. The implementation of a pre-festival media only foodie event to showcase the festival’s food offerings was an original concept by Anderson.

“For a show like Jazz in the Gardens, it’s obvious that entertainment writers will want to interview Jaime Foxx and Kelly Rowland, but to also position the show as a vacation destination and identify opportunities for the conch salad guy and the Jamaican cuisine guy takes some thought,” said Elvis Anderson. “To lock down LL Cool J for three on-camera interviews after his set, that’s a lot of strategic begging,” Anderson added. As a journalist, I authored Jazz in the Gardens stories for Community Newspapers, examiner.com and UPTOWN Magazine.