The Countdown is on for the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival!

Get your jazz shoes ready! There’s just one day to go until the October Bank Holiday Weekend and that means the return of the legendary Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2021!

The festival now in its 43^rd year will take place throughout Cork from October 22^nd – 25^th with headline acts including Yasiin Bey, Matthew Halsall, James Vincent McMorrow, Mas Exodus, Mark Copland, Denise Chaila and the X Collective being staged in the main festival venues.

But the Big Fringe is often where some of the more unexpected things happen and the Cork Jazz Festival Committee have announced a packed programme of (mostly) FREE events set to take place across Cork, and in Kinsale as part of the Guinness Kinsale Jazz Fringe Festival.

Every year the streets of Cork come alive with the sounds of jazz and big brass bands and this year will see a return of some of Ireland and Europe’s finest jazz talent.

Visiting international bands will tour through the city as part of the Beat on the Street throughout the weekend and will perform on the super dome stage at Emmet Place as part of Jazz on the Plaza.  Theseinclude the energetic New York Brass, Hyde Park Brass Band, Brass Kings, TBL8 Brass, Stomptown Brass along with Cork’s own Code of Behaviour, Rebel Brass, the Barrack Street Band and Blarney Concert Band who will perform at Daunt’s Square.

For the first time ever this year, the city’s Victorian Quarter will stage the Harley Street Line-Up, with jazz spilling out of each venue throughout the day from noon. Pop along to hear Voiceworks Indie Choir/The Cosmics, the Victorian Quarter All Star Jazz Quartet, Cork SM Saxophone Jazz Quartet, the Alison Ronayne Jazz Trio and more!

The open top Big Jazz Bus also makes a welcome return to the festival and will tour the city from Friday to Sunday with lively bands on board.

No trip to the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival would be complete without a visit to the famous Guinness Cork Jazz Festival Club at the Metropole Hotel which holds its place as the beating heart of the festival, staging free jazz shows for all the family on Saturday, Sunday and Monday afternoon, with ticketed shows each evening.

Festival goers can also avail of the annually curated and mapped Guinness Music Trail which this year will see more than 60 venues across Cork City, Douglas and Kinsale host a variety of jazz acts from across Ireland and beyond.

This year’s festival also provides music enthusiasts with opportunities to improve their performance and learn more about jazz through workshops and lectures with Dr. Ian Darrington OBE, in the Music Library of Cork City Library at 1pm on Friday and in the Metropole Hotel on Saturday afternoon where he will give a presentation on the top ten jazz vocalists. A variety of Fringe festival performances will also take place in the renowned Cork School of Music.

Fiona Collins, Chairperson of the Cork Jazz Festival Committee said: “One of the highlights for many will be the Fringe Festival which will see some of finest brass bands including New York Brass and Hyde Park returning, as well as more familiar local bands such as Rebel Brass bringing music to the streets of Cork. The festival committee is delighted to work in partnership with Diageo Ireland, Failte Ireland, Cork City Council, Cork Chamber of Commerce, Cork Business Association, and businesses all over the city to bring jazz back to the streets of Cork.

“The festival will operate in strict accordance with the latest Government guidelines, and we ask everyone to play their part in ensuring a safe and enjoyable festival. It promises to be a fantastic weekend – Here’s to listening to great music. Here’s to reconnecting with friends over pints. Here’s to creating magic moments. Here’s to the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2021.”

For more on the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2021 see GuinnessJazzfestival.com