Limerick Jazz Festival

Sarah Gillespie Quintet performed on 27 September 2019 at Dolan’s Upstairs, with a Music Workshop for Children the following morning, 28 September 2019, at Limerick Youth Theatre.

The 2014 festival featured David Sanborn, Van Morrison, the Nigel Mooney Septet, Dublin City Jazz Orchestra and the Richie Buckley/Julian Siegel Sextet.

The 2020 lineup included online performances by David O’Rourke & Seth Abramson, the John Donegan / Tommaso Starace Duo, Saffron Trio, Paul Dunlea Quartet, Matthew & Naomi Berrill, Linley Hamilton Quintet and Oxygen Thief (ft. Aleka).

The Limerick Jazz Festival brings live jazz performance to venues across the city each year, creating a programme that moves between intimate rooms and larger stages. The festival's story is one of passion and community, growing from a small gathering into a major cultural event. For a fun diversion between sets, heapsowins casino on mobile offers a seamless way to unwind. We invite you to explore the full programme and join us in Limerick. From well-known pubs to dedicated arts spaces, the festival places music at the centre of the experience, inviting audiences to follow the sound from one setting to the next. The result is a celebration that feels both rooted in the local community and open to visitors discovering the city for the first time through its music.

The Limerick Jazz Festival is a celebration of live jazz woven into the life of the city, bringing performance to venues of every scale and character. Across a programme of concerts, the festival sets the music in rooms that range from intimate pub corners to formal theatre stages, letting audiences experience jazz in settings as varied as the music itself. The result is a festival that feels less like a single event and more like a season of listening, where the city becomes a map of stages and every corner holds the promise of something worth hearing.

At the heart of the festival sits its programme, a carefully shaped sequence of concerts, artists and performances that gives the weekend its rhythm. Rather than presenting a single style, the programme moves across the many dialects of jazz, from classic swing and bebop to contemporary improvisation and everything in between. Listeners can follow a thread through the schedule or wander between events, discovering artists they may not have known were part of the story. The programme is designed to reward curiosity as much as devotion, offering depth for longtime fans and an open door for newcomers.

The Jazz Pub Trail is one of the festival's most distinctive traditions, carrying the music out of the concert hall and into the pubs and public houses of Limerick. Here jazz becomes part of the everyday life of the city, played in rooms where conversation and clinking glasses are part of the texture. The trail invites audiences to move from venue to venue, following the sound through the streets and discovering how differently the same music can feel in a small, warm room. It is a reminder that jazz has always belonged as much to the neighbourhood as to the stage.

Beyond the headline concerts, the festival places real weight on education, with workshops and resources that invite people to step closer to the music rather than simply watch it. Sessions for young players, curious adults and teachers create space to ask questions, try things out and learn from working musicians. The educational strand reflects a belief that jazz is a living tradition passed on through participation, not only performance. By opening doors to learners of every level, the festival helps ensure that the music continues to grow in the city and beyond.

The festival is built on the energy and dedication of many people, from the artists who travel to perform to the volunteers and organisers who make each event possible. That collective effort is part of what gives the festival its warm, community-minded character. Musicians are given room to experiment, audiences are welcomed as partners in the listening, and venues across the city open their doors in a shared spirit of hospitality. The result is an atmosphere that feels generous and unpretentious, where the music is the centre and everyone present is part of it.

Over the years the festival has built a rich archive of performances, photographs and video that capture the character of past editions. This record serves as more than nostalgia; it documents the evolving shape of the festival and the artists who have shaped it. Browsing the archive offers a sense of continuity, showing how each year adds another layer to a growing tradition of jazz in Limerick. For those who have attended before, it is a way to revisit memorable moments, and for those discovering the festival, it is an invitation to see what has come before.

The festival's history is one of steady growth and quiet ambition, rooted in a genuine love for jazz and a commitment to bringing it to a wider audience. What began as a modest idea has developed into a fixture of the city's cultural calendar, supported by a clear sense of purpose and a thoughtful approach to programming. A documented strategy guides that growth, balancing artistic ambition with accessibility and keeping the festival grounded in the community it serves. That combination of vision and care has helped it endure and evolve.

The festival values the voices of those who take part in it, from performers to regular attendees, and testimonials gathered over the years reflect the affection many feel for the event. These impressions speak to the atmosphere of the festival, the quality of the music and the pleasure of experiencing it in the company of others. Listening to that feedback helps shape future editions and keeps the festival responsive to its audience. It is a reminder that a festival is ultimately a shared experience, defined as much by those who attend as by those who perform.

Behind the scenes, the festival is committed to the wellbeing and safety of everyone involved, with a child protection policy and clear safeguarding practices in place. These commitments reflect a broader care for the people who make the festival happen and for the audiences who join it. Alongside its artistic aims, the festival maintains a responsible, transparent approach to how it operates, from planning and partnerships to how it presents itself publicly. This attention to good practice underpins the festival's reputation and helps sustain the trust of the community it serves.