Plans already underway for the 2021 Cork Jazz Festival

Plans are afoot for the 2021 Guinness Cork Jazz Festival following the cancellation of this year's event.

In the summer, the organisers of the festival announced that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the much-anticipated event would not take place.

However, plans are already underway to create an exciting and memorable festival next year, the Lord Mayor councillor Joe Kavanagh confirmed to councillors at the latest full council meeting earlier this week.

The Lord Mayor assured councillors that the title sponsor Guinness (Diageo) remain committed to the festival.

"When the Jazz Festival was cancelled, I got a phone call as Lord Mayor from the Managing Director of Diageo who firstly expressed his sincere disappointment at the inability of going ahead with the Jazz Festival which was blatantly obvious because you simply couldn’t go forward with the Jazz Festival given the situation we are in with the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Secondly, he assured me that the sponsorship is safe for the coming years and is looking forward already to next year’s festival and is planning for next year’s festival.

"They [Diageo] have assured me of their ongoing support and sponsorship moving into the future," the Lord Mayor said.

Cork City Council director of services Adrienne Rodgers lauded the "huge commitment" Diageo has shown to the Festival over the years and stated that City Hall is continuing to engage with the company with regard to next year's Jazz Festival.

The Jazz Festival launched in Cork in 1978 and has been a continued success throughout the decades.

In 1982, Guinness replaced John Player as sponsor of the festival.