The Carnival of Swing

The Carnival of Swing was a historic jazz festival held on Randall's Island, New York, recognized as the first outdoor jazz festival. It featured 25 swing bands, including Duke Ellington and Count Basie, with an audience of over 23,000 swing enthusiasts. The event lasted nearly six hours, with police present to manage the excited crowd. While no audio recordings were initially believed to have survived, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem later acquired radio recordings from the event .