For the past 36 years, Cork City has been taken over at the tail end of October for its annual festival of all things jazz and this year might just be the best one yet.

Over the course of its history, the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival has played host to more than 1,000,000 visitors and some of the Jazz music's biggest names. Performers like Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock (to name but a few) have appeared over the years and, with in excess of 40,000 visitors expected this year, the festival transforms the Rebel County into a the world's foremost jazz hub for a few all-too-brief days.

This year's program is one of the most diverse yet. A carefully curated selection of acts from all across the world have signed up to perform this October, with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Drifters, Michael Legrand, Dianne Reeves, the Ginger Baker Jazz Confusion, Jake Clemons (son of Clarence) and Carmen Lundy all among those set to play across the festival's various stages this year.

This year's list of acts is as diverse as ever, as a host of Irish names have been chosen to mingle with their international peers this October. Bands like Delorentos, Sleep Thieves, Fight Like Apes, The Hot Sprockets and Slow Skies, as well as the velvet-voiced Gavin James, will all appear too across the festival's five days.

In addition to the above, this year the festival will boast The Big Jazz Fringe 2014 which aims to extend the festival for locals and visitors alike with a series of bespoke events in the city's various amenities, galleries, cinemas, library - and even the airport! The Fringe will showcase the significant artistic talents on offer in Ireland's largest county in all manner of styles and locations, aptly enveloping the city in a creative, jazz-fuelled haze!

Further details on the festival, such as travel and hotel information, as well as full list of events & ticket information, can be found on www.guinnessjazzfestival.com.

The Cork Guinness Jazz Festival will take place from the 23rd to the 27th October across various venues in Cork.