'One giant musical meeting place': Full details of Cork Jazz Festival to be unveiled early next month  

The full programme of events for the 2026 Guinness Cork Jazz festival will be unveiled in early September.

Taking place from October 22-26, the festival will once again transform Cork into a city wide stage.

As in previous years, the internationally acclaimed music festival will bring together jazz greats, global innovators, and some of most exciting emerging Irish artists.

Across the five-day festival, audiences can expect to see major ticketed performances in some of the best known venues in Cork city, with more than 500 musicians performing across 100 events in nearly 80 venues.

This will be alongside the free Guinness Music Trail, which will bring live music into pubs, bars and spaces throughout the city.

The festival will also spill out onto the streets, with surprise pop up performances and brass bands adding to the atmosphere through The Big Fringe.

Alongside traditional and contemporary jazz, the festival this year will explore the music, scenes, and artists that jazz has influenced and inspired — from soul, funk and R&B, to Afrobeat and electronic music.

The reach of the festival also extends beyond Cork city, with events and activities in surrounding areas including Douglas and Kinsale.

A spokesperson for the Guinness Cork Jazz festival said this helps in relation to “reinforcing its role as a major cultural draw for audiences from across Ireland and overseas”.

“With its combination of world class musicians, global sounds, Irish talent and the unmistakable energy of Cork over the October Bank Holiday Weekend, the 2026 Guinness Cork Jazz festival is set to turn the city into one giant musical meeting place.”

The full programme for the 2026 Guinness Cork Jazz festival will be available online at from early September.