Jazz Palencia 2026: day-by-day programme, with Kurt Elling, Michel Camilo and Billy Cobham

Three and a half weeks of jazz in Palencia, but only six paid concerts in its two theatres. The 13th Jazz Palencia International Festival spreads its programme between 30 October and 22 November: the sessions at the Teatro Principal and the Teatro Ortega are concentrated between the 7th and the 21st, and around them there are clubs, bars, cinema, the library, the streets and four towns in the province, many with free entry.

When the festival presented its line-up at the end of September, we explained who was headlining this edition and how the season pass worked. The pass is no longer on sale and the day-by-day schedule is complete: this is the guide to choosing a date, with times, venues and prices.

From 30 October to 22 November, with the theatres from 7 to 21

There is an explanation for the confusion over dates. On its social media and at its presentation, the festival calls the concert by Antonio Serrano and Kaele Jiménez on Saturday 7 November the ‘opening concert’, because it kicks off the series of big concerts. But its day-by-day schedule starts a week earlier, on Friday 30 October, with a concert in Paredes de Nava and the exhibition ‘El jazz está en los libros’ at the Biblioteca Pública, open until 21 November. The last event on the programme is the free concert by the Banda Municipal on Sunday 22.

The schedule also includes two concerts that the festival itself marks as ‘off-programme’: Nicolás Alvear Organ Trío at Universonoro on Thursday 29 October and Cova Villegas Cuarteto at Club 38 on Friday 27 November, both at 21:00 and for €12. All the information on this edition is also on the Jazz Palencia page.

From 30 October to 6 November: the province, Swing Day and the first dates

• Friday 30, 20:00, Centro de Artes Escénicas Jorge Manrique (Paredes de Nava): David Cid Quartet with Marta Marín, jazz and soul from the organ and piano. €10.
• Saturday 31, Swing Day in Palencia: free lindy hop class at the Casino from 10:10 to 11:00, with limited places allocated in order of registration; ‘Tocalé & Jump!’ swing vermouth session with Hot Club Valladolid on the Paseo del Salón at 13:00, with free entry, and a swing party with Chuchi Step Trío at the Casino at 20:30, also with prior registration.
• Sunday 1 November, 20:00, Espacio Cultural Cine Amor (Aguilar de Campoo): Cream Quartet. €10.
• Tuesday 3, 19:00, Fundación Díaz-Caneja: Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), the first of the three films in the season, in the original language with subtitles and free.
• Wednesday 4: the talk ‘Damas del Jazz’, with Ana Silva and Mauricio Caruso, at 11:30 on the university campus, and Poesía & Jazz at the Ateneo at 19:00, with Carlos Aganzo and Naiel Ibarrola. Both with free entry.
• Thursday 5, 19:00, Museo de Palencia: Cuca Albert & The Jumping Fleas, free. Beforehand, the winning story of the Ramos Ópticos prize is read; this year it goes to Miguel Barrero for ‘El hombre que todavía recordaba a Lester Young’.
• Friday 6, 21:00, Club 38: Slim Slam Tribute, a tribute to the duo of Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart. €12.

From 7 to 12 November: Antonio Serrano opens the Teatro Principal

• Saturday 7: street jazz with El Puntillo Canalla Brass Band at 12:00, from the Salón to the plaza Mayor; jazz vermouth session with Malavara at bar Alaska at 13:30, free, and at 20:30, at the Teatro Principal, Antonio Serrano & Kaele Jiménez Cuarteto with Jazz CaLó. The short story prize is presented before the concert.
• Sunday 8, 12:00, Teatro Principal: Swing for Kids premieres De Cine, the family concert about swing in film soundtracks, with tap dancing and audience participation.
• Tuesday 10, 19:00, Fundación Díaz-Caneja: Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), free and in the original language with subtitles.
• Thursday 12, 21:00, Universonoro: Víctor Antón Quintet and the repertoire of Barney Kessel’s first albums. €12 in advance and €15 on the door.

Jazz CaLó brings together the harmonica of Serrano, who played with Paco de Lucía in his final years, and the piano of Kaele Jiménez, with Marc Miralta on drums and Juanfe Pérez on bass completing the group. The album was nominated this year for best jazz album at the Premios de la Academia de la Música de España. It is the Principal’s only paid night outside the family show, and it was never included in the season pass.

From 13 to 15 November: Kurt Elling and Michel Camilo at the Teatro Ortega

• Friday 13: listening session at the Biblioteca Pública at 19:00, free, and at 21:00, at the Ortega, Kurt Elling & The Yellowjackets with Celebrate Weather Report.
• Saturday 14: street jazz with Big Malavara at 12:00; jazz vermouth session with Iván Sáez Baribone Quintet at bar Alaska at 13:30; César Tejero Trío at the Auditorio Municipal in Guardo at 19:00 (€10), and Michel Camilo Trío at the Ortega at 20:30.
• Sunday 15: jazz vermouth session with Trigo y Malanga at Habana Cafetería at 13:00, free, and Cover Club at the Centro Cultural Polivalente in Baltanás at 19:00 (€10).

Elling’s night calls for a clarification: it is the same show that plays two days earlier at the Teatro Fernán Gómez in Madrid, as noted in our JAZZMADRID 2026 guide. The Chicago-based singer revisits the Weather Report repertoire with Russell Ferrante and Bob Mintzer’s Yellowjackets, with Dane Alderson on bass and Marcus Finnie on drums. The following day, Michel Camilo returns to the trio format with Antonio Sánchez on drums and Ricky Rodríguez on double bass, and a repertoire that alternates his own pieces such as ‘Caribe’ and ‘On Fire’ with standards such as ‘A Night in Tunisia’.

From 17 to 22 November: Billy Cobham, the tribute to Bebo Valdés and the Banda Municipal

• Tuesday 17, 19:00, Fundación Díaz-Caneja: Sweet Smell of Success (1957), the last film in the season, free.
• Wednesday 18, 19:00, Biblioteca Pública: zo brinviyer with Lachy Torriente, with free entry.
• Thursday 19, 21:30, Ponte Vecchio: jazz dinner with Chuchi Step Trío; the music is free for those who book dinner at the restaurant.
• Friday 20: listening session at the Biblioteca Pública at 19:00 and Billy Cobham Quintet at the Ortega at 21:00.
• Saturday 21: street jazz with La Nouvelle Helmantique at 12:00 and, at 20:30 at the Ortega, Cucurucho Valdés & Javier Colina Trío with Para Bebo, alongside percussionist Inor Sotolongo.
• Sunday 22, 13:00, Teatro Principal: the Banda Municipal de Música closes the festival with a jazz programme. Entry is free, but you need to collect an invitation from the box office.

Cobham, born in Panama in 1944, played with Miles Davis between the late sixties and early seventies and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and in 1973 he released Spectrum, a landmark jazz-fusion album. He arrives with a quintet of guitar, keyboards, bass and saxophone. For the Ortega’s closing night, Colina and Bebo Valdés’s grandson revisit part of the repertoire the double bassist recorded as a duo with Bebo at the Village Vanguard in New York, as well as Cuban music and pieces by Cucurucho.

Tickets and prices: from €8 to €30, and less room for Michel Camilo

The €98 season pass for the Ortega’s four nights was only on sale until 8 October. Each concert is now bought separately via the festival website, which links to each theatre’s ticket sales, or at their box offices:

• Teatro Ortega (13, 14, 20 and 21): €30 in zone A, €28 in zone B and €25 in zone C. Tickets for Kurt Elling, Michel Camilo, Billy Cobham and Cucurucho Valdés and Javier Colina.
• Teatro Principal, 7 November: €28 in the stalls, stall boxes and boxes; €25 in the front rows of the dress circle and the upper circle; €20 in the dress circle and upper circle, and €12 for restricted-view seats, via the Teatro Principal ticket sales.
• Swing for Kids, 8 November: €8 for children and €10 for adults, also via the Principal ticket sales.
• Clubs and province: from €12 at Club 38 and Universonoro, and €10 for the four concerts in the province, according to the official schedule, which does not say where tickets for the latter can be bought.

The difference between nights shows up in the ticket sales for the Ortega, which has 678 seats. On Saturday 24 October there were 82 left for Michel Camilo, 212 for Billy Cobham, 245 for Kurt Elling and 276 for Cucurucho Valdés and Javier Colina. Anyone who is sure they want to see Camilo shouldn’t wait much longer. The Principal’s ticket sales do not show how many seats remain for the 7th.

Where each venue is

Both theatres are in the centre of Palencia: the Principal at calle de Burgos, 3, and the Ortega at calle de Colón, 2. The street jazz runs along the calle Mayor, from the Salón to the plaza Mayor. The festival website has a parking page for those arriving by car.

The concerts in the province require travel: Aguilar de Campoo and Guardo are in the north of the province, while Paredes de Nava and Baltanás are closer to the capital. If you’re looking for more jazz plans this month, our guide to November festivals cross-references the Palencia dates with those in Madrid, Granada and the Cartagena Jazz Festival, and the festivals in Palencia listings have the rest of the events in the province.

Sources: day-by-day schedule, individual concert pages and presentation of the 13th edition (21 September 2026) on jazzpalencia.es; festival news item on the Ramos Ópticos prize (19 October); official Jazz Palencia Instagram (October 2026); Teatro Principal and Teatro Ortega ticket sales, consulted on 24 October 2026.