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The Ocean City Jazz Festival: Leah Norman of Topsail Talk and organizer Kenneth S. Chestnut Sr.

WHQR | By Demia Avery

Published July 5, 2024 at 4:20 PM EDT

From left: Kenneth S. Chestnut, Sr. — Ocean City Jazz Festival organizer — and Leah Norman from Topsail Talk. — From left: Kenneth S. Chestnut, Sr. — Ocean City Jazz Festival organizer — and Leah Norman

This week, WHQR Arts Reporter Demia Avery sits down with Leah Norman, from Topsail Talk, and Kenneth S. Chestnut Sr., son of a founding father of Ocean City and, for many, the public face of the city’s famous jazz festival, which kicks off for its 14th installment this weekend, from July 5-7. They talk about the festival’s importance — and the origins of Ocean City, the place that makes it possible.

_{*This project was supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a Division for the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources}

Listen to Demia Avery's full interview with Leah Norman and Kenneth S. Chestnut Sr.

Watch the interview here:

This is the Jazz Festival's 14th year — and the 75th anniversary of the founding of Ocean City.

From the festival's website: The Ocean City Jazz Festival is committed to presenting the gold standard of jazz by producing a showcase event that raises an appreciation of the genre of jazz, fosters economic growth, unites artists and attendees, and inspires a new generation culturally through the history of the Ocean City Beach Community.