The Cork Guinness Jazz Festival is known across the country and is the most popular weekend of the year, with Corkonians returning from various parts of the world just to get jazzy. The first thing that people do every year is check when the October Bank Holiday is and immediately book the Friday off so they can get home and prepare themselves for the weekend that’s upon the horizon. 

Lots of planning goes into this weekend by various groups of people. They ask themselves… Where are the best spots to go? Will I just drink Guinness, for the weekend that’s in it, or will I mix it up? So, I decided to help everyone out by sitting down with a couple of members to ask what they’ll be getting up to for Jazz and what recommendations they have. The general consensus is clear - everyone absolutely loves the Jazz Festival!

Our Members Thoughts:

I sat down with 8 of our members here in Republic of Work and asked them all the same questions. I won’t share all of their answers because you’d be here for quite some time, but here are my highlights.

Q1 - “Are you doing the tripler?” 

This question was asked to see if people would be going out for all 3 days/nights, to which I got a mixed bag of responses, some wished that they were doing the tripler but had other plans, some saying absolutely not and others saying that they’ll only be going out for one night. 

Q2 - “Where would you recommend for the weekend?” 

The majority of people said the Metropole, with others mentioning smaller pubs across town like Sin E and the Shelbourne, meaning MacCurtain Street could be the hotspot this year, especially with all the new bars on this street! One member shared a cute little message saying it doesn’t really matter where you are, it’s about who you’re with. I think I agree!

Q3 - “What is your drink of choice for the weekend?” 

This was quite the interesting one! Some gave the simple answer of just the one drink, such as Heineken Zero, red wine, Gin & Tonic and Guinness but others went into detail by describing how their taste will change throughout the day - beer during the daytime, but once the sun goes down then it’s time for Vodka with soda water and razza, or Tequila with soda! 

Another member had their lineup down to a T, the order was 2 Guinness, 2 Orchard Thieves, finishing with a Gin & Tonic or Jameson & Ginger Ale for the rest of the evening. One classy member mentioned their drink of choice for the weekend is A French 75. 

Q4 - “Where is your favourite place to get food at the end of the night?” 

This was a landslide with nearly everyone saying that it was Fast Al’s, now I can see why the queues are always massive and now you know where to find ROW members at the end of the night! 

Istanbul and Hillbilly’s were the other two favourites, but another member said they don’t stay out that long, but at least if they find themselves out late this Jazz they’ll know where to go!

Q5 - “Are you a fan of the jazz festival?” 

Everyone had the same answer and that was a big “yes”, to which some added they love it for what it does for the city, that it’s their favourite weekend of the year and are glad that it’s back again in full swing after the little break during the virus that won’t be mentioned. One member said “the Jazz is class” and finally that it’s the best weekend of the year. 

Recently the Jazz festival has also turned into a bit of a fashion show, with everyone dressing up and bringing more glamour each year, especially with the break in 2020, people are definitely making up for lost time! I for one cannot wait for the weekend and the festivities that it brings and seeing everyone glammed up.

I must say that I do agree with everyone's love for the Jazz festival, not only is it a very enjoyable weekend, it also brings all of your friends who no longer live in Cork and gives you the opportunity to create memories that will last a lifetime… As the saying goes “Allez Le Jazz”.

All the best, Colin (Marketing Executive @ RoW)