Bray International Jazz Festival

Bray Jazz Festival will return for it’s 25th anniversary on the May Bank Holiday weekend, 2026.

See Full Lineup

FRED HERSCH TRIO

Friday, 1st MAY

ROBERTO FONSECA LA GRAN DIVERSIÓN

Saturday, 2nd MAY

EDDIE HENDERSON MILES LEGACY

Sunday, 3rd MAY

Lineup

Bray International Jazz Festival is a jazz festival weekend that takes place in Ireland on the May Bank Holiday weekend, each year. In 2026 we’re marking our 25th Anniversary, and are delighted to welcome some great headline guests: 17 times Grammy Award nominated pianist Fred Hersch, Cuban jazz pianist and band leader Roberto Fonseca, and Grammy winning New York trumpeter Eddie Henderson.

For our 25th event we were also happy to host the UK Parliamentary Jazz Awards group of 2024, Ukrainian harpist Alina Bzhezhinska’s Hip Harp Collective, break-out Mongolian jazz singer Enji, folk album of the year winner Cerys Hafana, and French chanteuse Leila Martial.

We’ll also have two amazing nights of live music down at Whale Theatre, Greystones, with Cuban pianist Harold Lopez-Nussa and British jazz singer of the year Sara Dowling with Sam Braysher’s Quartet, as well as a packed programme of the best in Irish jazz at The Harbour Bar and other venues. And why not check out our all new later night venue – Frank’s Festival Club, at Duff’s Bar, where there will also be some great music all weekend.

Friday
Saturday
Sunday

3pm	DCU Jazz Graduates Showcase Venue: The Harbour Bar
8pm	Fred Hersch Trio (USA) Also Featuring: Mike Nielsen’s Sound Recipes Venue: Mermaid Arts Centre
6.30pm	John Moriarty Organ Trio Venue: Harbour Bar
6.30pm	Cerys Hafana (Wales) Venue: Bray Town Hall
8pm	Harold Lopez-Nussa (Cuba) Venue: Whale Theatre, Greystones
8.30pm	Tommy Halferty Quartet Venue: Harbour Bar
10.00pm	ÓninaÓ Venue: Harbour Bar
10.30pm	Zaska Frank’s Festival Club @ Duff’s Bar

2.30pm	Alina Bzhezhinska Hip Harp Collective (Ukraine/UK) Venue: Matinee @ Mermaid Arts Centre
4.30pm	Faster, Shorter, Louder Venue: Harbour Bar
6.30pm	Leila Martial (France) Venue: Bray Town Hall
6.00pm	Luisa Annibali Quintet Venue: Harbour Bar
8.00pm	‘That’s Him’: The Music of Kurt Weill – Sara Dowling & Sam Braysher Quartet (UK/Palestine) Venue: Whale Theatre, Greystones
8.00pm	Roberto Fonseca’s La Gran Diversión (Cuba) Also Featuring: Berri Venue: Mermaid Arts Centre
8.00pm	Organ Freeman Venue: Harbour Bar
9.15pm	MACH2 Venue: Harbour Bar
10.30pm	Shy Mascot Venue: The Harbour Bar
10.30pm	Poppy Daniels Band (UK) Venue: Frank’s Festival Club

2.30pm	Genuine Jazz Orchestra Venue: Mermaid Arts Centre
4.30pm	Sorcha McCague Quartet Venue: Harbour Bar
6.30pm	Enji (Mongolia) Venue: Bray Town Hall
6.00pm	Jenny Hallahan Quartet Venue: Harbour Bar
8.00pm	Eddie Henderson’s Miles Legacy Quartet (USA) Also Featuring: CEO Experiment
7.45pm	Origin Story Venue: The Harbour Bar
9pm	Chief Keegan Venue: The Harbour Bar
10.30pm	The O’Regans Quartet Venue: The Harbour Bar
10.30pm	Yurodny Venue: Frank’s Festival Club

WHERE THE FESTIVAL’S HAPPENING

Bray’s Mermaid Arts Centre will once more be the festival hub for this year’s Bray Jazz Festival, presenting day-time matinees on both Saturday and Sunday, and playing host to double-bill presentations, each night.

We’re also returning to Whale Theatre in Greystones with concerts on Friday and Saturday nights, will stage early-evening small ensemble and solo expositions at Bray Town Hall, and present a lively programme of the very best of Irish jazz on The Harbour Stage at Bray’s Harbour Bar – where all shows are free to attend.

We have a great new venue this year – within easy walking distance of Mermaid Arts Centre. It’s ‘Frank’s Festival Club‘, which will be open at Duff’s Bar, with live music at 10.30pm.

Free to attend also are our other great live offerings on the festival’s jazz trail – which will bring music to bars and other venues across the seaside town.

For booking and more information contact box office here.

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