The Russian poet Maximilian Voloshin made it his residence, where he entertained many distinguished guests, including Marina Tsvetayeva, Osip Mandelshtam, and Andrey Bely (who died there).

Another prominent literary resident of Koktebel was Ilya Ehrenburg who lived there circa 1919 while escaping from anti-Semitic riots in Kiev.

After the deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet regime in 1944, the city's name was changed from Koktebel to russified Planerskoye (it comes from the Russian planer, or glider).

Nowadays, Koktebel fills up in the summer with tourists from Russia and until the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea also from Ukraine and the European Union.

Cast from the festival in past years included De-Phazz, Nino Katamadze, Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham and many other famous jazz and world music performers.