It has at times enjoyed a turbulent history, with financial difficulties leading to one previous promoter going bust, and the Hay Festival Organisation pulling out of running it in 2012, but tickets for this year's Brecon Jazz Festival have been selling well and organisers are hopeful it will be the best event yet.
Cardiff events and media group Orchard took over running the festival last year and promised a greater range of concerts than ever before for the 2013 event, which takes place this weekend, 9-11 August.
Headline acts featuring Jools Holland, Acker Bilk, Martin Taylor and Alan Barnes, and Tim Kliphuis have already sold out and many others are close to capacity.
Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. Photo courtesy of Brecon Jazz
Unfortunately soul star Mavis Staples had to pull out in order to have surgery for a "long-standing condition" but Pablo Janczur, Orchard's director, believes this will be a stellar year for the event.
He said: "There's a great buzz about the festival already in Brecon, and it looks like business will be good for traders in the town and the surrounding area.
"With a traffic-free zone in Brecon for the whole of Saturday, locals and visitors will have a much more comfortable way to enjoy the great street entertainment we have in store."
Other acts on the bill include Norwegian jazz trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, who will be performing with Biosphere, multi Grammy Award winners The Impossible Gentlemen, English jazz singer and pianist Anthony Strong, Django Bates' Belovèd and Scandinavian/British jazz trio Phronesis, who received a five star review from The Telegraph for their Pitch Black Project, which was performed at Brecon Jazz Festival in 2011.
Nils Petter Molvaer. Photo courtesy of Brecon Jazz
A performance by Huw Warren and Maria Pia De Vito will be streamed live on the Saturday at 5.30pm via breconjazz.com/live.
The number of shows this year has increased by a third to 43, while the town's Castle Hotel has been added to the list of venues.
The festival will also feature a wealth of Welsh jazz talent and street entertainment and the bar at Theatr Brycheiniog will be transformed into the Brecon Jazz Bar with a series of panels on display chronicling the history of the festival.
This will be a permanent exhibition which catalogues the festival from the gem of an idea in 1983 to plans for next year's 30th anniversary and features commemorative pieces about some of the key figures in the Brecon story such as George Melly and previous programme director Jed Williams as well as the Brecon Jazz Club.
Courtney Pine. Photo courtesy of Brecon Jazz
First staged in 1984, the annual festival has featured international jazz musicians and up-and-coming artists from across the UK.
Over the years it has attracted performers such as Sonny Rollins, Allen Toussaint, Van Morrison, George Melly, Humphrey Lyttelton and Amy Winehouse and brought more than a million visitors to the town.
This year there will be a special concert at the Castle Hotel on Sunday by Jazz4Jed, a group of Jed Williams' friends who set up a bursary to keep his memory alive through the music he loved. For more details visit jazz4jed.co.uk.
Jazz singer and pianist Anthony Strong. Photo courtesy of Brecon Jazz
All Brecon jazz programme and ticket information is available on breconjazz.com.
