Cork set to swing for the weekend as city's 44th jazz festival launched by Taoiseach
Colin Penny, Diageo Ireland and an Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the opening night of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival in St Peters. Photo: Darragh Kane
The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is back in full swing this year, with over 72 pubs, theatres, clubs and hotel venues across the city and county taking part in the festivities.
Cork will play host to over 1,000 musicians from over 20 countries this year, with some 43,000 visitors expected to attend.
The 44th iteration of the festival kicked off on Thursday night at St Peter’s Church on North Main Street, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin among those in attendance at a special ‘We Got the Jazz’ Exhibition, showcasing the work of American jazz photographer Chuck Stewart.
This exhibition has been curated by celebrated Limerick photographer B+ (Brian Cross) and the festival's new director, Mark Murphy. Among the attendees on the night were British soul singer Omar, and New York rapper Jeru the Damaja, both of whom feature in the festival roster over the weekend.
Opening the festival, the Taoiseach said the annual October Bank Holiday festival has “a massive impact on local businesses, who all see a huge boost over the weekend.”
He said the fact the festival is now in its 44th year is a testament to “the founders, the hard-working Cork Jazz Festival committee, all of the publicans and hoteliers who pull out the stops over the weekend, support from stakeholders like Failte Ireland, Cork City Council and Cork Airport.
He also praised Guinness and Diageo, who “invest significant time and money into the organisation and overall management of this Festival year after year”.
Since the festival’s founding in 1978 at Metropole Hotel, the event has hosted the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock.
This year, some of the headliners on the bill include New Power Generation (Prince’s backing band), Nigerian star Seun Kuti, and UK jazz innovators Gogo Penguin. A number of the events are already sold out.
There are also plenty of gigs for those less-inclined to jazz including Pillow Queens at Cyprus Avenue and Boots & Kats, also at Cyprus Avenue.
The Big Fringe will offer mainly free music experiences featuring international and local Big Brass Bands who will perform around the city and more.
Punters are warned to dress for the weather though, with showers expected throughout the weekend.
They are also asked to use public transport where possible, with those travelling by car advised to be aware of the new road layout changes at the Dunkettle Interchange, which took effect this week.
Irish Rail is running full services across all routes all day on Friday, Saturday up until 2.30pm and from 10.30am on Monday.
Between 2.30pm on Saturday and 10.30am on Monday, bus transfers will be in place between Thurles and Kildare. This is to facilitate line improvement works.
Local services to Cobh, Midleton and Mallow are running as normal, while bus services will run throughout the weekend as normal, including with reduced Sunday and bank holiday schedules on Sunday and Monday.
- See the full programme and purchase tickets on guinnesscorkjazz.com
