Penza, 15 May 2015. PenzaNews. The official opening of Jazz May festival that began at the square by “Penza” cinema and concert hall in the evening of Friday, May 15, was interrupted by a sudden rain.

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The weather earlier in the day was sunny, and the event went on schedule: the visitors enjoyed the Lugansk jazz performance ensemble “Combo” and “Express-Band” from Penza directed by Yury Belonogov.

During her meeting with journalists, the soloist of “Combo” Margarita Kolganova said that even though the situation in the disputed region of Lugansk remains tense, the concerts are growing more popular, and the band itself found their performances an excellent outlet for the pent-up tension.

She had never participated in such events before, she added.

“I hope this festival will be our first step to full-fledge tour performances,” she said.

The open-air festival grounds was marked by the presence of Sergei Balovin, the traveling artist, who did caricatures in exchange for small gifts. One of the members of the festival thanked the artist by giving him a hat and a can of pickled cucumbers.

The festival’s atmosphere was boosted by multiple art objects shaped like musical instruments, such as bass, drums, or piano.

About an hour after the opening, the weather changed: the strong winds brought over dark clouds that erupted into rain.

The audience rushed to hide from the weather in the concert hall and the philharmonic hall, and the musicians stopped their performances.

At 18.30, the Moscow jazz band “Open Strings,” together with the Penza strings quartet “Premyera,” will perform at the grand stage of the Philarmonic Hall, followed by Billy’s Band frontman Billy Novik and the St. Petersburg Jazz Stars.