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Cork Airport is expecting 58,000 passengers this October Bank Holiday weekend, with tens of thousands of festival-goers landing on Leeside to enjoy the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. The busiest day of the bank holiday weekend for arriving passengers will be tomorrow (Friday), October 23.

Now in its 48th year, the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is the biggest music event on Cork’s cultural calendar. Over the coming days, arriving passengers will be treated to live performances in the terminal – with music from Manic Jazz Preachers, Dublin-based TBL8 Brass and the popular local ensemble, Rebel Brass. Cork Airport is proud to continue its partnership with the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival once again this year, through support from the airport’s Community Fund.

Over the coming days, over 500 performers will take to the stage in 80 different venues. This year’s festival is headlined by artists like Berlioz, Yussef Dayes, Boney M feat. Maizie Williams, Annie Mac and Kororoko. Along with the main ticketed shows, there will be free jazz events throughout the city and suburbs as part of “The Big Fringe” – with music at Cork City Library, the Oliver Plunkett Street Stroll, Beat on the Street, Jazz in the Fort (Elizabeth Fort), the Jazz Market on Patrick Street, the Jazz Gospel Service in St. Anne’s Church, Shandon – and the ever popular Jazz Bus.

Cork Airport is the international gateway to the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival and ever since the festival’s inception in 1978, the airport has welcomed many famous artists and performers from across the world down through the years, and this year will be no different. Now worth upwards of €45 million to the Cork economy, the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is sponsored by Diageo, along with Cork City Council, Fáilte Ireland and Cork Airport.

Speaking in the lead up to the festival and October Bank Holiday weekend, Cork Airport Managing Director, Niall MacCarthy said: “This weekend is one of the highlights of the year for us all here at the airport. We are thrilled to be proud festival partner of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival once again. It’s an event that brings so much to our city and county, with some of the world’s most talented jazz performers, the craic around the city streets, and a great boost to the local economy. And of course, our passengers will get to sample “the jazz” as soon as they touch down at Cork Airport over the coming days!”

Fiona Collins, Chair of Guinness Cork Jazz Festival added: “As the international gateway to the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, the airport plays such a vital role in bringing so many visitors and festival-goers to our city and region this weekend. We’re very proud of our longstanding partnership with Cork Airport and we look forward to welcoming the many visitors that will be touching down for another exceptional ‘jazz weekend’.”

Passengers travelling this weekend are advised to arrive at Cork Airport 90 minutes before their flight is due to depart. For those flying on Sunday, October 25, Cork Airport advises passengers to be mindful of the time change as daylight saving time draws to a close and the clocks fall back an hour.