The Charles Templeton Ragtime Jazz Festival is sponsored by the MSU Libraries and the Charles Templeton Sr. Music Museum as a means of enhancing the research in the area of ragtime music, increasing the awareness of the Templeton collection housed in the MSU Library and introducing people to the sounds of Ragtime being performed by world-renowned ragtime musicians.

The festival is comprised of a blend of major concerts, mini-concerts, seminars and tours of the Music Museum. Seminars are held in Mitchell Memorial Library and major concerts are held at the Bettersworth Auditorium in Lee Hall on the MSU Campus.