In an unprecedented first, the National Jazz Festival Tauranga will head into next week's official opening with three sold-out shows.

The festival, the longest running festival in the Southern Hemisphere, returns to the city for its 56^th year from March 28 to April 2 – delivering live music from a star-studded line-up of local and international musicians.

Melbourne's six-piece trad and dixieland band Shirazz, Tauranga's Caitriona Fallon and Wellington's High Society will perform in front of intimate crowds of 180 in the Blink Jazz Lounge at Baycourt Community & Arts Centre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Festival director Craig Wilson attributes these sold-out shows to the high-calibre of musicians at this years event.

'The festival has never achieved a sold-out result ahead of the festival launch and the public excitement is warranted for such a line-up.

'These musicians are proving extremely popular and will no doubt set the bar high for the rest of the festival.”

Melbourne's Shirazz has become a New Zealand festival favourite specialising in classic hot jazz of the 20s and 30s while High Society's energetic swingin' show features some of the best jazz stylings across the decades – from 1920s prohibition to the contemporary jazz of today.

Caitriona Fallon will take to the stage after rave reviews for her stand-out performance at the 2017 Tauranga Tarnished Frocks and Divas show Zoetica, and her New Zealand debut concert at Totara St, Mount Maunganui sold out.

The former Riverdance lead vocalist and her Bay of Plenty band of musicians perform original songs and classics that are jazz-influenced - swing, gypsy, creole, ragtime and blues, all rolled in with a contemporary, almost pop sound.

Craig says 2018 sees the return of other crowd favourites of the 41^st National Youth Jazz Competition, the TECT Big Band Bonanza on The Strand Waterfront, Downtown Carnival, the high-energy Hurricane Party and much more.

Headline international acts include Shirazz as well as famed Australian musician James Morrison and Sydney's Isaiah B Brunt with his electric blues.

Top New Zealand acts set to wow alongside Caitriona and High Society include the Bay of Plenty's own Kokomo at the highly anticipated Hurricane Party and Wellington's Lisa Tomlins in a stunning Joni Mitchell tribute.

'To secure such a high-calibre line-up of musicians is testament to the festival's position as the longest running festival in the Southern Hemisphere.

'I have no doubt the festival will continue to put Tauranga and jazz on the map this Easter.”

The 56^th National Jazz Festival Tauranga runs from March 28 until April 2. For details and tickets visit www.jazz.org.nz.