Greetings from Safe Harbour
Rhiannon Giddens plays Cyprus Avenue on Thursday 1 October, and Cork Opera House follows with Adam Rowe on Friday, Hothouse Flowers on Saturday and Queen of the Night on Sunday.
Cork Comic Con fills Marina Market for the weekend, and comedian Andrew Ryan is in Clonakilty on Saturday and The Everyman on Sunday.
Then we’ve got the Cork Folk Festival opening a few days later, on Thursday 8 October. Plenty to keep busy!
This is our pick of what's on this week. As always for a full event list check out the link at the bottom of the email.
Let's dive in 👇
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Rhiannon Giddens
Thursday 1 October · 19:00 · Cyprus Avenue
Giddens is a two-time Grammy winner, MacArthur "Genius" grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize winner who also composes for opera, ballet and film. Much of her work is about lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have been overlooked or erased. Her album What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, made with Justin Robinson, came out in April 2025.
Cork Comic Con
Saturday 3 to Sunday 4 October · 11:00 · Marina Market
Comic Con Ireland's two-day celebration of movies, TV, comics, gaming, anime and cosplay has celebrity guests, an Artist Alley of comic creators and illustrators, panels and talks, gaming zones, cosplay competitions and a trade hall for comics and collectibles.
Cork Folk Festival
Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 October · Venues across Cork city
This is the 47th festival, with concerts, workshops, talks and sessions spread across the city. Altan and John Spillane play on Friday 9 October, and a Saturday gala concert, "Tuning the Radio", looks back over 100 years of traditional music on Irish radio. On Sunday afternoon, Folk Fest in the Fort brings community groups to Elizabeth Fort.
Timeless Jazz | Murray, Priestley, Jang & Whitcomb
Thursday 1 October · 20:00 · Briery Gap Cultural Centre, Macroom
Drummer John Philip Murray, pianist Brian Priestley, double bassist Jinju Jang and trumpeter J.Q. Whitcomb form the quartet, with a programme drawn from jazz standards and original material.
FUAIM Concert: The Vanbrugh & Friends
Friday 2 October · 13:10 to 13:50 · Aula Maxima, UCC
One of UCC's FUAIM Autumn 2026 lunchtime concerts, with Brahms's Quintet in B minor, Op. 115, from 1891.
Echoes of Pink Floyd
Saturday 3 October · 19:00 · The Pavilion
More than two hours of Pink Floyd's back catalogue from a tribute act, in a one-night show billed as a trip to The Dark Side of the Moon.
Hothouse Flowers
Saturday 3 October · 20:00 · Cork Opera House
The date follows the 2024 release of the band's documentary Stick Around and Laugh a While, and the venue points to almost forty years of singing and playing all over the world.
Paddy Casey
Saturday 3 October · 20:00 · Schoolyard Theatre, Charleville
Since his debut album Amen (So Be It), Paddy Casey has toured with The Pretenders, R.E.M., Ian Brown, Blondie and Tracy Chapman. His second album, Living, became one of the biggest-selling albums in Ireland.
Kate Nash
Sunday 4 October · 20:00 · Coughlan's
Nash is touring a run of intimate Irish shows in Derry, Cork, Kilkenny and Dublin. They draw on a new project exploring her Irish heritage, with songs she debuted this summer at Galway International Arts Festival, All Together Now and the Fleadh.
Queen of the Night – A Tribute to Whitney Houston
Sunday 4 October · 20:00 · Cork Opera House
A tribute production built on Whitney Houston's songs, with a line-up of vocalists and a full live band.
The Olllam
Tuesday 6 October · 19:00 · Cyprus Avenue
A transatlantic collective that blends Irish traditional music with Detroit's psychedelic post-rock energy. Uilleann piper John McSherry leads the group, with Joe Dart of Vulfpeck in the line-up.
The Frank and Walters
Saturday 31 October · 20:00 · Cork Opera House
The Cork band mark 30 years of Grand Parade, the follow-up to their debut Trains, Boats and Planes. The album gets its first vinyl release alongside the tour, and its songs include "Colours", "Indian Ocean", "How Can I Exist?" and "Tony Cochrane".
Adam Rowe: Fashionism
Friday 2 October · 20:00 · Cork Opera House
Adam Rowe is a British stand-up known for his sharp wit, storytelling style and Liverpudlian charm. He hosts the Have A Word Podcast, has appeared on Live at the Apollo and has been on tour with Theo Von, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle and Shane Gillis.
Andrew Ryan: Honest Capacity
Saturday 3 October · 20:30 · De Barra's Folk Club, Clonakilty
Sunday 4 October · 20:00 · The Everyman
Ryan's new stand-up show covers pet ownership, his constant inability to read a room and his frustration with the world around him. He hosts the Q Radio Breakfast Show and has appeared on The Two Johnnies Late Night Lock In, The Blame Game and Comedy Central Live.
Week 4 – London
Tuesday 6 October · 11:00 to 13:00 · Triskel Arts Centre
Dr Matthew Whyte's lecture is part of Art History Reframed: The Great Cities of Europe, a six-lecture autumn series. It looks at how Turner, Constable and Whistler responded to a rapidly expanding, industrialising London, favouring atmosphere, light and fleeting perception over fixed narrative, with musical references to Handel, Elgar and Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture.
Pumpkin Picking at Joe's Farm
Saturday 3 October · 10:30 · Joe's Farm Crisps, Killeagh
Visitors walk around the working East Cork farm, picking vegetables, learning a little about farming and choosing a pumpkin from the patch. The floral arch and a giant Cinderella-style pumpkin carriage are back as photo spots.
Sleepout for Cork Simon
Friday 2 October · Elizabeth Fort
Cork Simon's annual sleepout asks business leaders, students, work colleagues and others to give up their beds for one night at Elizabeth Fort. The money raised goes to the charity's services for people experiencing homelessness in Cork.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Cork check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
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