From Berlioz, Yussef Dayes and Masters At Work to Annie Mac, Boney M featuring Maizie Williams, KOKOROKO, Courtney Pine, Jason Moran and Σtella, here’s the Guinness Cork Jazz Fest line-up coming to Cork this October.
There’s a real magic to Cork in late October. Music spills from doorways, brass bands appear where you least expect them, hundreds of musicians arrive from all over Ireland and the world, and every venue fills with incredible live performances. The whole city is caught up in a big, five-day celebration of music.
The programme for the 2026 Guinness Cork Jazz Festival has been revealed, and it looks like another unforgettable week of music across the city, spanning contemporary jazz, house, soul, disco, hip-hop, R&B, blues, Afrobeat, electronic music and beyond.
Running from Thursday 22 October to Monday 26 October, the 48th edition of the festival will see some of the biggest names in international music alongside some of the most exciting artists emerging from Ireland and around the world.
Leading the line-up is Berlioz, Yussef Dayes, Masters At Work and Annie Mac, followed by Boney M featuring Maizie Williams and KOKOROKO.
Berlioz has rapidly become one of the most distinctive names in the new wave of jazz-influenced electronic music. The London-based project of Ted Jasper blends jazz, soul, house and funk into sophisticated, late-night grooves, drawing on the spirit of classic jazz while sounding firmly rooted in the present.
Yussef Dayes is one of the defining figures of the new British jazz generation. The drummer’s explosive blend of jazz, broken beat and soul has earned him an audience far beyond the traditional jazz world, making his Cork appearance one of the weekend’s essential appointments.
Then there’s MAW – Masters At Work, with Kenny Dope and Louie Vega bringing their legendary New York house sound to Cork together for the first time. It is also their first show in Ireland in more than two decades. Expect a heady collision of house, Latin, disco and soul.
Annie Mac returns to Cork for a rare appearance from one of Ireland’s most internationally recognised DJs, broadcasters and tastemakers, supported by Tara Kumar.
Saturday brings Boney M featuring Maizie Williams, whose tour celebrates five decades of era-defining hits. With a catalogue packed with instantly recognisable disco and pop anthems, this promises to be one of the festival’s great intergenerational party moments.
KOKOROKO are set to fill the city with their boundary-pushing blend of Afrobeat, jazz and future-facing sounds, while Courtney Pine celebrates an extraordinary four-decade journey in music. One of British jazz’s most influential and enduring voices, Pine continues to push boundaries while drawing on the deep musical traditions that have shaped his career.
One of the most acclaimed and intellectually adventurous American jazz pianists of his generation, Jason Moran will perform his signature solo piano show.
The Music of John Coltrane & Miles Davis, with Keyon Harrold & Marcus Strickland, sees two contemporary American jazz heavyweights explore the music of two of the genre’s defining figures at The Everyman.
At Live at St Luke’s, Ireland’s own Muireann Bradley brings her extraordinary country-blues and folk sound to the festival, while Σtella and Toshín & Sei Green add soulful, contemporary dimensions. Joe-Armon Jones, keyboardist and founder of the Ezra Collective, whose solo work moves between jazz, dub, electronics and soundsystem culture, completes a particularly adventurous run of shows.
The festival’s exploratory and forward-looking side continues across the programme, with New York-based singer, songwriter and guitarist Margaret Glaspy, known for her genre-blurring blend of jazz, indie rock and experimental pop.
Over at Triskel Arts Centre, the programme leans further into the festival’s exploratory side. Momoko Gill, Riversphere featuring Iain Bellamy & Rob Luft, Bill Laurence of Snarky Puppy, Okonski and Jasmine Myra all feature, alongside an ECM Showcase bringing together Topos: Sokratis Sinopoulos & Yann Keerim, Trygve Seim & Tord Gustavsen, and Maciej Obara Quartet featuring Mathias Eick.
At Cyprus Avenue, festival goers can enjoy.Alabama soul powerhouse St. Paul & The Broken Bones who bring their electrifying live show to the venue, while Yankari Afrobeat Collective will perform the music of Fela Kuti, celebrating the enduring influence of the Afrobeat pioneer. Irish indie-pop duo 49th & Main, joined by Caolan Ryan, round out the line-up with a high-energy night of modern, genre-blurring sounds.
Luke Thomas & The Swing Cats return with their ever popular Kings of Swing show,
Irish and emerging talent also features strongly throughout the festival, with Caolan Ryan, Tyra-Lee Spry, TBL8 Brass, Aisling, Winnie Ama, Solène Laurence, and Maya Libbey among the artists appearing across the city.
The breadth of this year’s programme reflects what has always made Guinness Cork Jazz Festival unique. There are no boundaries between genres, generations or audiences – jazz sits alongside house, soul, disco, Afrobeat, blues, rock, folk and electronic music, with the entire city becoming part of the experience.
Headline venues include Cork Opera House, The Everyman, Triskel, Live at St Lukes, and Cyprus Avenue.
The Cork City Hall Series adds another strand to the festival, with performances from The Boomtown Rats, The Stunning, Rory Gallagher: The Legend Lives On, Mack Fleetwood and Mundy.
Yet the other beauty of Cork Jazz has always been what happens between the headline shows.
The Guinness Music Trail will once again stretch across over 70 pubs and venues throughout Cork and beyond, while the Big Fringe brings brass bands, pop-ups and unexpected performances onto the streets. You might arrive with a plan. Cork will probably have other ideas.
That sense of discovery is part of what makes the festival unique. This isn’t jazz confined to a concert hall. It’s jazz and music in iconic venues, and discovered as you weave through the city.
Festival programmer Eoin Cregan, “The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is more than an event, it’s a legacy and a culture. The Guinness team and our jazz festival committee are thrilled to bring another great line-up to Cork this October. And there’s even more exciting announcements still to come!”
Festival sponsors and organisers Diageo have been behind the festival’s growth over the past few decades. Partnerships Manager Gavin Ó Broin added, “Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is a hugely special part of the cultural calendar, and we’re proud to continue our long-standing partnership with the festival in 2026. Year after year, it brings people together from Cork, Ireland and around the world to experience an incredible mix of music, culture and community. We’re looking forward to another memorable weekend in Cork this October and to celebrating everything that makes this festival so unique..”
For almost five decades, Guinness Cork Jazz Festival has welcomed legends and boundary-pushers alike, from Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins to Gregory Porter, Damon Albarn, and Macy Gray. Today, it remains one of Ireland’s great music weekends precisely because it refuses to stand still.
Tickets go on sale Wednesday 9th September at 10 on guinnesscorkjazzfestival.com, with more artists still to be announced. For more see @guinnesscorkjazz #GuinnessCorkJazz. The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is supported by Diageo, Fáilte Ireland, Cork City Council and Cork Airport. Drinkaware.ie.
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