Derry is the place to be this May Bank Holiday Weekend as the city becomes a massive stage for some of the finest music talent from across the world during the City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival.
Running for five days from May 1 – 5 the festival this year welcomes hundreds of top class musicians and performers from around the world for the biggest musical celebration of its kind in the country, in keeping with Derry’s fantastic Music City programme for 2014.
Renowned jazz musician Kyle Eastwood and 90’s legend Curtis Stigers are among the premiere cast of talent set for a weekend packed full of live entertainment taking place at over 50 venues across the city, as every cafe, bar, hotel, and street corner .
Last year over 38,000 people attended the highlight event in the city’s social calendar and jumped, jived and jitter bugged their way along the Free Guinness Jazz Trail, which means that over 90% of all the weekend entertainment is free. This year’s Speakeasy theme will add to the atmosphere, with the chance to dress up gangster style and enjoy some Prohibition era fun, with back street bars and secret passwords.
As always the programme features the best of both home grown and international talent, including folk phenomenon Kate Rusby, and the man touted as the new Jamie Cullum, Anthony Strong.
They will head a formidable ensemble of some of the best jazz, blues, soul, swing and jive acts around, including the fabulous Puppini Sisters, the electrifying Carmen Ghia and the Hotrods, and of course TV favourites the Jive Aces.
They will be joined by big names on the local music scene, David Lyttle, Paul McIntyre, John Leighton and of course, the father of jazz himself, Gay McIntyre.
One of the big highlights this year is the Spiegeltent which adds some vaudeville glamour to the festival, its mirrored splendour always a highlight at festivals since the travelling venues first began hosting concerts in Belgium in the late 19th century.
As always the City of Derry Jazz Festival is expected to draw music fans from far and wide, and hotel spaces are already filling up fast with some fantastic accommodation deals currently available.
And there’s a packed programme of events taking place in the city over the coming months, beginning with the PanCeltic Music Festival which celebrates the best of Irish traditional Irish music April 22 – 27. June 21 sees the return of the massively popular Music City Day, which this year marks the beginning of the Foyle International Maritime Festival, running from June 21- 29.
And during the festival the city will welcome home the Derry Clipper Team for a stopover celebration to remember, with seafood, song and plenty of nautical entertainment – including an appearance by the Beach Boys!
The City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival is run by Derry City Council, and sponsored by Diageo, Department of Culture and Leisure and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.
For more information on the full Jazz Festival line-up go to www.cityofderryjazzfestival.com.