With just two weeks to go, the city is getting ready for five days of music, late nights and unforgettable moments as more than 500 musicians descend on Cork.
The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival has announced its final programme for the October Bank Holiday weekend (22–26 October), with a host of new artists and additional shows joining an already packed bill – and some of the weekend’s most anticipated events now sold out.
With just two weeks to go until the 48th edition of the festival, Cork is preparing to once again become one giant music venue, with more than 100,000 revellers expected to take to the city’s stages, streets, pubs and venues over the five-day weekend.
Among the latest additions is a second late-night Boney M show on Saturday, following the rapid sell-out of the first show, while another date has been added for festival favourite Luke Thomas & The Swingcats.
The final programme also welcomes a host of exciting new names to the festival. Skin On Skin, the Australian-born, London-based producer and DJ known for his high-energy fusion of techno, house and club sounds, sold out his Cyprus Avenue show almost instantly. Acclaimed London singer-songwriter Jaz Karis, whose soulful R&B sound has earned her a growing international following, joins forces with fellow Irish artist Jessica Doolan for what promises to be a special addition to the weekend. The programme also features Sambroso All Stars performing Buena Vista.
Also joining the bill is Fish56Octagon, the genre-spanning DJ, producer and dance music obsessive whose infectious sets have made him a major force across the current electronic music scene.
Rising Botswanian-born artist Xmunashe will support acclaimed drummer and bandleader Yussef Dayes, while Chicane, the pioneering electronic act behind some of the defining sounds of the 1990s and 2000s, joins the programme at Cyprus Avenue.
The festival will also welcome back the ever-popular Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, whose explosive combination of brass, hip-hop, funk and jazz has made them firm festival favourites, supported by Cooks But We’re Chefs. Tolü Makay & Zaska will also bring their distinctive meeting of soulful vocals and genre-bending production to the city.
Several of the festival’s headline events have already sold out, including 49th & Main Live, with both the 7pm and 11pm shows gone, alongside Berlioz, Masters At Work, Kokoroko, ΣTELLA, Muireann Bradley, Skin On Skin, and St Paul & The Broken Bones.
Other shows are moving quickly, with Annie Mac, Jasmine Myra, Okonski and Luke Thomas among the acts where audiences are being urged not to leave it until the last minute.
For those looking to make the most of the weekend, there are a number of shows that should be firmly on the must-see list.
Jazz legend Courtney Pine, acclaimed pianist and composer Jason Moran, visionary drummer and bandleader Yussef Dayes, and Joe Armon-Jones, the celebrated keyboard player and co-founder of Mercury Prize-winning collective Ezra Collective, are all set to bring some of the festival’s most exciting performances.
There is also the meeting of musical minds in The Music of John Coltrane & Miles Davis with Keyon Harrold & Marcus Strickland, who have created a special tribute for the festival, while Riversphere adds another intriguing dimension to a programme that moves effortlessly between jazz, soul, electronic music, hip-hop, funk and contemporary Irish music.
But the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival has never been just about what happens on the main stages.
Outside the headline shows, the entire city becomes part of the experience. The free Guinness Music Trail brings live music to around 70 venues throughout Cork, while surprise pop-up performances and the brass bands of The Big Fringe spill out onto the streets.
Across the weekend, audiences can move from an intimate club performance to a packed concert, stumble across a brass band in the street, discover an emerging Irish artist in a small venue and finish the night somewhere entirely unexpected.
The festival also reaches beyond Cork city centre, with events taking place in Douglas and Kinsale, further cementing its reputation as one of Ireland’s biggest cultural and tourism weekends.
It is this combination – world-class names alongside new discoveries, ticketed shows alongside free performances, and five days of music set against the unmistakable atmosphere of Cork – that keeps audiences coming back year after year.
Ireland’s biggest city-based music festival will bring more than 500 musicians to Cork, with more than 100 events taking place across almost 80 venues, from major headline shows to intimate pub gigs.
With the final programme now revealed, the countdown is on.
The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival takes place across Cork from 22–26 October 2026. With many shows already sold out and others selling fast, audiences are encouraged to book now to avoid missing out.
Tickets and the full programme are available at www.guinnesscorkjazzfestival.com. Follow @guinnesscorkjazz on social media for updates throughout the festival weekend.
The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is supported by Diageo, Fáilte Ireland, Cork City Council and Cork Airport.
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