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seasonal · Tuesday 21 July 2026 · 9:30 - 22:00 
Sligo Jazz Project International Summer School and Festival
At Atlantic Technological University Sligo · ATU Sligo campus, Sligo Town, Co. Sligo
At Atlantic Technological University Sligo · ATU Sligo campus, Sligo Town, Co. Sligo
For six days every July, Sligo becomes one of the best places in Ireland to hear live jazz - and to play it. The Sligo Jazz Project International Summer School and Festival draws musicians and audiences from across Europe and beyond to Atlantic Technological University’s campus, and it has done so long enough to win the 2025 Jazz Forward Award from All About Jazz. The event suits a wide range: working musicians who want to sharpen their craft alongside world-class tutors, curious listeners who want more than a single gig, and anyone travelling through the west of Ireland who wants to drop in on something genuinely good.
The daytime is structured as a proper summer school, running from 9:30 each morning. Workshops, masterclasses and jam sessions take place across ATU Sligo’s main campus on Ash Lane and at ATU St Angela’s, a few miles outside town near Lough Gill. There are no auditions and no grade requirements - all levels are welcome from age 10 up, which keeps the atmosphere open rather than competitive.
The 2026 Artist in Residence is Aaron Parks, an American jazz pianist and composer with a reputation for patient, introspective playing. The Young Artist in Residence is Sun Mi Hong, a South Korean drummer based in Amsterdam. Both perform and teach throughout the week. The broader faculty covers voice (including Elina Duni and Lucia Cadotsch), saxophone, guitar, bass, trumpet, trombone and violin - so most players will find direct tuition relevant to their instrument.
Evenings move to Hawk’s Well Theatre for ticketed concerts featuring the faculty and guest artists. Aaron Parks performs on 24 July with two sets and two different lineups. Alongside the theatre programme, free jam sessions run twice daily, and live music spills into pubs, hotels and cafés around the town from morning to late evening.
A full participant ticket at €450 covers the entire week of workshops, masterclasses and all festival concerts. Single masterclasses (€80) and full-day passes (€150) are also available, so an evening visitor can dip in without committing to the whole school. Registration closes 30 June.
Sligo Town sits on the N4, roughly 2.5 hours from Dublin and about 1 hour from Galway via the N17. Bus Eireann runs several services daily from Dublin Busaras, with the journey taking around 3.5 hours. ATU Sligo’s main campus is on Ash Lane, a ten-minute walk from the town centre, with car parking on site. The St Angela’s campus, also used during the festival, is a short drive or taxi from town.
Sligo has good restaurants and traditional music sessions year-round, and the surrounding county offers Yeats country, Benbulben, the beaches at Strandhill and Rosses Point, and some of the finest surfing on the Atlantic coast. There is more to see in Sligo and across Co. Sligo.
Heading to Atlantic Technological University Sligo 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.