THE Ballydehob Jazz Festival is back on the streets on the May Bank Holiday Weekend.
The village will host a free live music trail featuring over 30 performances from Irish and international acts including Fixity, Donal Dineen, Goodnight Circus, Paul Dunlea, Cormac McCarthy, Runaway Retros, the Jabin Ward Trio, Eve Clague & the Valentines and more.
Headline concerts in the Jazz Hall include a Ballydehob debut from Karen Underwood. Saturday’s headliner comes all the way from Brooklyn, New York and that is Tatiana Eva-Marie & The Avalon Jazz band. Moonshine Shindig is BJF’s signature late night Jazz Club. This year’s shindig returns Saturday and Sunday night featuring old time blues delivered with the groovy modern twist of the Canibal Dandies followed by Jazz DJs and dancing until late.
The Jazz Parade returns inspired by New Orleans style street funerals and brings the community together with visiting performers for one colourful display of joy and pageantry.
This year launches the first Ballydehob Jazz Poetry Slam, in partnership with the Working Artist Studio, with some of Ireland’s finest young poets and spoken words artists including David Jackson, Katie Mathúna, Julie Goo, Pól O Cólmáin & more.
BJF Micro Mural Exhibition is a brand-new series of small murals under the theme ‘The Rising Tide’. Each artwork will be created in unassuming areas within the village to be sought out by the audience. This is coordinated by muralist Shane O’Driscoll of Ardú Street Art Project.
There’s also food and craft market stalls and pop-up circus performances.
There’s plenty of free events and early bird festival tickets €50. Full information and booking at www.ballydehobjazzfestival.org
*****
Click here to sign up to our mailing list and get the best of West Cork delivered straight to your inbox.