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music · Friday 24 July 2026 · 8:00pm 
Aaron Parks and Friends
At Hawk's Well Theatre · Temple Street, Sligo, Co. Sligo
At Hawk's Well Theatre · Temple Street, Sligo, Co. Sligo
Aaron Parks is one of the most inventive pianists working in jazz today - a New York-based musician who came up through Terence Blanchard’s ensemble in his late teens, recorded for Blue Note Records, and has spent two decades pushing the music somewhere between lyrical post-bop and something harder to name. His sound draws on jazz, indie-rock and Eastern modal music, and his playing has been described as both spontaneous and cinematic. This is a free concert at Hawk’s Well Theatre as part of the Sligo Jazz Festival, and it punches well above its price point.
The “and Friends” format means Parks leading a hand-picked small ensemble, with room for improvisation and musical conversation. His concerts tend to be attentive rather than flashy - intelligent music that rewards listeners who want more than background sound. Parks has built his career on this kind of collaborative, open-ended performance.
Hawk’s Well Theatre is a compact, 340-seat venue - purpose-built and intimate, with acoustics well suited to acoustic jazz. Opened in 1982, it was the first purpose-built theatre west of the Shannon and is the anchor venue for the Sligo Jazz Festival. An evening show here means a proper seated concert rather than a pub stage, with a room that takes the music seriously.
The Sligo Jazz Festival runs 21 to 26 July, mixing headline theatre shows with club sets and informal late-night sessions around the town. The Aaron Parks concert on Friday night sits in the headline theatre slot.
Sligo town is about two and a half hours from Dublin by road (the N4/M4 most of the way, then the N17). Bus Eireann operates several daily services from Dublin Busaras to Sligo Bus Station, which is a short walk from the town centre. From Connacht and the north-west, Sligo is a natural hub with direct routes from Galway, Roscommon and Donegal.
Hawk’s Well Theatre is on Temple Street, right in the town centre. Street parking is available nearby, and Sligo has a handful of pay car parks within five minutes’ walk. On a Friday evening in summer the town is busy, so allow extra time or walk in from the edge of town.
The festival week fills the town with music well beyond the headline shows - free sessions, workshops and late-night club gigs run alongside the theatre programme, making it worth staying for a night or two rather than just the one concert. There is more to see in Sligo and across Co. Sligo.
Heading to Hawk's Well Theatre in Sligo? Sligo has plenty more to see. Read the Sligo area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.