MOSCOW, June 19. /ITAR-TASS/. International festival Koktebel Jazz Party will gather jazz bands from Russia, Armenia, Germany, Cuba, Brazil and the US in Crimea, the organizers said to a news conference at ITAR-TASS on Thursday.

The forum scheduled for September 12-15 is designed as an alternative to the Ukrainian Koktebel Jazz Festival that goes back to 2003 and has now moved to the Odessa region.

The landmark initiative was supported by the government, as 2014 was the Year of Culture, said Deputy Minister Yelena Milovzorova.

“Crimea is now our priority region, and I hope this festival will traditionally take place in Koktebel,” she said.

The organizing committee had received no refusals from the invited musicians, said art director Mikhail Ikonnikov. The festival is expected to welcome some excellent performers such as the U.S. trumpeter Tom Harrell, singer Deborah Brown and drummer Jamal Thomas, quintet Maraca & Ramon from Cuba, the Russian jazz legend Valery Ponomaryov and pianist Yakov Okun. The Huun-Huur-Tu band from the Tuva Republic will represent the ethic music trend.

The festival will also offer master classes, exhibitions, installations and samples of Crimean Tatar's ethnic cuisine.

Tickets will be available at the official site in the Russian, Crimean Tatar, Ukrainian and English languages. Box office revenues will go to the peninsula’s budget.