The 2017 Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival will take place Saturday, September 30 from noon to 6:00 p.m.on Columbus Avenue between Massachusetts Avenue and Burke Street in Boston's historic South End. The festival is Boston's biggest block party - a free, annual, outdoor public concert that has drawn as many as 80,000 in recent years with its host of jazz, Latin, blues, and funk performances, along with KidsJam, an instrument petting zoo, and an array of food vendors.

Curated by Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer, and Berklee professor Terri Lyne Carrington, this year's event will feature Emily Estefan, the Blue Man Group Drum-Off, Camille Thurman and the Darrell Green Trio, and Mehmet Ali Sanl?kol and Whatsnext? on the Capital One Cafés Stage (Mass. Ave. and Columbus); and Kina Zoré, the Artistry of Jazz Horn, Marko Djordjevic and Sveti, Assol Garcia, and Oscar Stagnaro and the Peruvian Tinge on the Hep C Hope® Stage (Burke Street). Debbie and Friends, a Grammy-winning children's music band, will play two sets in the Capital One Cafés Kids' Zone area (Douglas Park).

The Corea/Gadd Band, featuring music legends Chick Corea and Steve Gadd, will close out the festivities with a ticketed concert on Sunday, October 1 at the Berklee Performance Center (BPC). Tickets are available at the BPC box office (136 Mass. Ave.) or online at berklee.edu/bpc.

The fourth annual Blue Man Group Boston Drum-Off, a competition to find the most talented young drummer in New England, will be held for the first time at the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival. At the event, five selected finalists will each perform in front of the Beantown crowd and judge's panel. The winning drummer will perform live with Blue Man Group and receive over $6,000 worth of prizes from DW, Sabian, and Vic Firth. Last year's winner, Jarrell Campbell, is currently a student at Berklee.

Also returning to the festival is KidsJam, an interactive program led by Berklee's Music Education Department that introduces young children to a variety of musical activities including singing and sound exploration, playing rhythm instruments, and creating, listening, and responding to music.

Check berklee.edu/beantownjazz for updates and a full schedule of events.