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Issue no. 261
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Friday 24th - Thursday 30th October 2014
Pictured getting in to the swing of things at the airport is dancer Emily Hayes of Nicky’s Dance Studio. Picture by Diane Cusack
‘Are you jazzing?’ 40,000 will throng Cork for weekend By Lorcan Mac Muiris news@thecorknews.ie
Up to €20 million is expected to flow into Cork City’s economy over the course of what promises to be a monumental Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. This year’s festival, which begins tonight (Friday), is widely expected to be the busiest in years and local hotels, B&Bs and restaurants have reported that they’re almost completely booked out. The added boon at the end of one of the busiest summers in years for the city has set traders and merchants up with a sense of optimism about the remaining months of 2014 and a good reason to look forward to 2015. Many hotels around the city have had their busiest year since before the country slipped into the claws of the recession. The Gresham Metropole on MacCurtain
Street - traditionally an epicentre of ‘The Jazz’ - is almost completely booked out, with “very limited availability” across its 112 bedrooms for Friday and for Sunday, according to Sales Manager Des Donnelly. Speaking to The Cork News Mr Donnelly said the hotel’s staff are “working away up to the last moment to ensure that everything goes smoothly for the punters and our guests”. The Metropole’s general manager Roger Russell told The Cork News that the festival is expected to be “even busier this year...people have started booking earlier, which is a very good sign.” Cork Airport has also reported a big bump in numbers, and almost 30,000 passengers are expected to pass through over the four days. The city is traditionally in a buoyant mood ahead of the Jazz Weekend, but this year has seen such a positive upswing in the hospitality sector that the sense
of excitement has been even more palpable than usual. “Overall business has been superb” said the Clarion’s Raymond Kelleher. “We’ve had sales increases that we haven’t seen since 2007.” As well as 40,000 extra customers, the city’s establishments will throw open their doors to more than 1000 musicians, both home grown and international, and the vast majority of their performances will be free of charge. There will be something to suit every taste and the festival has been designed to appeal to jazz newbies every bit as much as it will appeal to jazz purists. Recent years have seen an expansion beyond the genre as the rising tide for the bank holiday weekend lifts all musical boats; nonjazz acts such as The Frank And Walters, for instance, are a highlight of this year’s offering. continued on page 4
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