It is held at various venues in the town of Wangaratta, 260 kilometres (161.6 mi) north east of the state capital, Melbourne.
Since its inception the festival has grown to include 90 events and over 350 national and international artists performing each year.
They funded a feasibility study which concluded that, although there were numerous music festivals in Australia, a point of difference could be achieved with one based on modern and contemporary jazz.
A feature of the festival is the National Jazz Awards, a competition designed to encourage and promote young musicians.
It was initially run as a piano competition for pianists (from 1990 to 1992), but this was changed to feature a different instrument each year.
In 1992, Jann Rutherford succeeded on her third attempt; Cathy Harley was the runner-up, with Jeff Usher in third place.