Jazztopad Festival has been running for the last 15 years under the umbrella of National Forum of Music (Wrocław, Poland). Its most distinctive feature is its commitment to commissioning new music and presenting special projects tailored for the festival. The festival has been exploring sounds coming from the regions not frequently associated with jazz (Korea, Turkey, Japan and India), presents house concerts and educational projects with film screenings and live improvisation.
Some of the major names commissioned by Jazztopad are: Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, Amir ElSaffar, Kenny Wheeler, Vijay Iyer, Benoit Delbecq, Terje Rypdal, Jason Moran, John Surman, William Parker and more. The festival artistically led by Piotr Turkiewicz, had some of its commissions released on prestigious ECM, Blue Note and AUM labels.