Cork, Durham and London dominate the autumn Irish and UK jazz festival scene
Leyburn Jazz Festival
Yorkshire, England
15–18 October
Alexia Gardner Trio, Ben Shankland Trio, Will Barnes Quartet and more.
Guinness Cork Jazz Festival
Cork City, Ireland
23–26 October
The 2026 line up includes Berlioz, Annie Mac, Boney M, Masters at Work, Kokoroko, Courtney Pine, Keyon Harrold, Marcus Strickland, The Boomtown Rats, Yankari Afrobeat Collective, Trygve Seim and Tord Gustavsen.
Ireland’s largest jazz festival, drawing international artists and thousands of visitors to Cork each autumn.
Durham Jazz Festival
Durham, England
23–25 October
Jo Harrop Trio, Ronnie Scott’s All Stars, Seb Rochford’s Finding Ways, Pete Roth Trio feat. Bill Bruford, Emma Fisk’s Hot Club du Nord, Maja Bugge & Dave Evans, Swannek, Vasilis Xenopoulos/Paul Edis Quartet, Rivkala, Durham University Jazz Society Evening, Eleonora Kouneni, Marvin Muoneké & Strictly Smokin’ Big Band, Knats, Dean Stockdale Quartet, Finn-Keeble Group, Janette Mason and more.
EFG London Jazz Festival
London, England
13–22 November
Samara Joy, Fatoumata Diawara, Coltrane 100 featuring Joe Lovano, Melissa Aldana, Nduduzo Makhathini, Linda May Han Oh, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Kronos Quartet, Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane, Alfredo Rodríguez & Pedrito Martínez, Emma-Jean Thackray: Dear Miles – A Love Letter, Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes, Cécile McLorin Salvant with the BBC Concert Orchestra, GoGo Penguin, Fergus McCreadie, PREP, Emma Rawicz’s Cloudwalker, Rymden, The Meltdown and more.
The UK’s flagship jazz festival, presenting major international artists alongside the best of the British scene across venues throughout the capital.
