Jazz sponsors committed to festival

The chairperson of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival has insisted the festival’s sponsors remain committed to the event as it launched its 42nd edition this week.

The festival will see over 1,000 artists entertain on Leeside from 24-28 October, with headliners including Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Kurt Elling announced this week.

Fiona Collins, Chairperson of the Guinness Cork Jazz committee, said the festival’s future in Cork was not in question, saying the event was “intrinsically linked to Cork”.

“I simply can’t imagine it anywhere else but Cork,” she said. “Diageo is committed to supporting the festival into the future and will ensure it maintains its appeal in Ireland and globally.

“There are many people passionate about the festival in Cork and we are delighted to have the support of local government, publicans, restaurants, hotels and wider Cork businesses to help maintain its success.”

Guinness Cork Jazz Festival has undergone several personnel changes in recent years. It was revealed after the 2017 festival that long-time programmer and festival director Jack McGouran would no longer be involved, while there was further shock in March this year when it was announced that his replacement Sinéad Dunphy would be leaving after just one year in the role.

While Ms Collins did not comment directly on the decision not to continue with Ms Dunphy, she thanked her for her work and said the festival would be run this year by a team including the Cork Jazz Festival committee, Verve Marketing and AMA Music Agency.

She confirmed AMA Music Agency Director Mark Downing had been working on this year’s line-up, which also includes 14-time Grammy nominee Fred Hersch and American jazz fusion band Spyro Gyra.

Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr John Sheehan welcomed the return of the festival, saying: “The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival attracts more than 40,000 people to Cork annually and is estimated to be worth around €35 million to the local economy every year.

“Its continued success is a testament to the fantastic team ethos that has evolved over the years between Guinness, the festival committee, local government and the local business community, and I wish it every success once again in 2019.”

“We expect upwards of 1,000 music and creative artists to take part between ticketed and free gigs and entertainment over the four days, and we aim to create a programme that will appeal to many musical and cultural tastes,” Ms Collins added.

Tickets for the headline acts are on sale now at guinnessjazzfestival.com, with further artists to be announced over the summer.