Porgy en Bess is a cultural venue with a rich mix of styles, completely run by volunteers, which originates from a club founded in 1957 by Frank Koulen. He arrived in Terneuzen from his birthplace Surinam with the Dutch liberation army in 1944. In 1945 he marched as the horn player of the liberation military parade into Terneuzen.

The club started as a lunchroom but very quickly changed into a very popular dancing club. In the sixties the place was immensely popular and Frank programmed more and more music, especially jazz. Frank was very active: he organized a fair in the main shopping street and came with another novelty, a real New Orleans Street Parade, the very first one in the Netherlands. In 1972 the fair resulted in a modest first jazz festival of one Saturday with traditional jazz.