Get ready on Saturday, March 8 to enjoy a great jazz festival in the perfect setting for the final time—the Landmark Event Center in Des Moines, also known as the Old Masonic Home.

The Landmark has been sold and it is unlikely it will continue as an event center.

Burien Arts Association’s Sixth Annual Highline Classic Jazz Festival from 2:30-10 p.m. will offer 14 bands playing on three separate stages.

The musicians will perform a wide variety of jazz styles including early and mid-20th century jazz, from Dixieland, Gypsy Jazz, Blues, Western Swing, Ragtime, Big Band Swing and cool Latin jazz as well as Straight Ahead Jazz classics.

This great jazz experience includes concerts, dancing, food, drink and an opportunity to mingle with the musicians.

The unique festival also features FREE Swing and Latin dance instruction. Get ready to show off your new moves as you dance to the great bands following the clinic.

Festival director Lance Haslund is sad to be losing the venue.

“Jazz festival attendees will truly miss the chance to visit this amazing venue, as will many others who have, over the past decade, attended weddings and other events such as the Poverty Bay Wine Festival,” Haslund noted.

“At this time, the future of the festival is uncertain, “Haslund revealed. “We in Burien Arts want to keep our festival in the Highline area, but no other venue in the area that we know of offers a comparable experience.

“We may have to rethink the entire festival if a suitable replacement cannot be found. Several alternatives to the current format are under consideration.”

As this year’s headliner, Haslund has secured Casey McGill’s Orchestra, a 14-piece group playing Big Band swing.

“Casey is known around town as one of the classic jazz guys,” notes Haslund. “He lives the part. He’s got a little pencil-thin mustache, wears clothes from the era, plays ukulele and coronet and sings.”

Other top classic bands featured are:

• Ambience (www.ambiencejazz.net)

• Double Bill (Bill Anschell & Bill Ramsey) (www.billanschell.com)

• Holotradband (www.holotraband.com)

• Jacqueline Tabor Jazz Band (www.jacquelinetabor.com)

• The Jangles (www.janglesband.com)

• Jennifer Scott & Rene Worst (www.jenniferscott.ca)

• Jump Ensemble (www.jumpensemble.com)

• Odell’s Medley (Alison Odell & Julian Smedley)

• Pearl Django (www.pearldjango.com)

• Ranger and the “Re-Arrangers” (www.rangerswings.com)

• Susan Pascal’s Soul Sauce – A Tribute to Latin jazz legend Cal Tjader (www.susanpascal.com)

• Steinwagon (Ryan Burns & Dawn Clement)

* Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band

There will be dancing and comfortable seating in the Auditorium and in the Banquet Hall. The elegant Living Room is the perfect place for the Acoustic Lounge, featuring small groups in an intimate setting.

EJ's Catering (www.ejscustomcatering.com) will serve a full dinner, at $16. There will also be two no-host wine bars and a coffee bar.

Tickets are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors (65 and over), and FREE for youth 18 and under. They are sold at Burien Arts Gallery, 826 SW 152nd St., in Burien. Tickets are also available at Brown Paper Tickets, www.brownpapertickets.com/event/553955.

For more information visit www.highlineclassicjazz.com.