The Riverboat Jazz Festival is based in Silkeborg.

Since the Riverboat Jazz Festival started in 1966 with three small passenger boats that sailed on a 2-hour voyage up the Gudenå, the festival has grown into a large event, in both quality and scope.

Since the end of the 1980s, when the festival gained its international character, it has become one of Northern Europe's largest jazz festivals for classic jazz.

More than 60 orchestras/soloists perform for around 35,000 jazz fans over the 5 days of the festival.

Riverboat Jazz Festival's musical profile continues to be classic jazz, such as New Orleans and Dixieland Jazz, Swing and Mainstream. In recent years, however there has also been room for renewal with younger jazz and young talents.

Three large tents each accomadating 700-1000 people, many eateries and bars in the city centre, streets and backyards resound with infectious jazz – and most of it is free!

The festival always takes place on the first weekend of the Danish primary school summer holidays and is a musical gem in one of Denmark's most beautifully situated cities.