Soul in the City is here!

It’s finally upon us! The Soul in the City festival returns this Bank Holiday weekend with another packed lineup of food, fun and music.

The festival returns to the Victorian Quarter from this Friday 31 May to 2 June for a weekend of soulful live music, mouth-watering soul food, fun and craic galore.

Whether you’re a music fanatic or a foodie, there’s plenty on offer across all three nights, with scrumptious soul dishes and a variety of hip hop, soul, r'n'b, jazz, pop and more.

For the after-work crowd who fancy kicking off the weekend on Friday night, Queen Grace will be taking to the stage at the Metropole Hotel from 7pm.

Other musical highlights on the night include performances from Cork’s own Jack O’Rourke, who plays at The White Rabbit at 9.30pm, while singer/songwriter Fintan McKahey, who recently launched his new EP ‘God Games’, will be at the Brú Bar and Hostel from 10pm. The festivities continue on Saturday evening from 6pm, when eclectic soul/funk maestros Musical Brotherhood will bring their improvisatory flair to Brú from 9pm.

Hip-Hop-A-Rock-A-Mus will be putting a ‘90s hip hop/R&B edge on proceedings at Gallagher’s from 10.30pm.

Sunday night brings the festival to a close with its showpiece event Aretha: Queen of Soul, hosted by Cork’s own soul diva Karen Underwood at The Everyman Palace at 8pm. Other top acts bringing the soul on Sunday include Dave Galster Trio at The Bridge pub at 6pm and the Neo Soul Collective, a nine-piece group featuring vocalists Kate O’ Connor, Aislinn Hegarty, Keelin McGinn and Christiana Underwood.

As well as the music, there’s plenty on offer for foodies, with a food trail providing the best of ‘soul food’ at venues around MacCurtain Street and Bridge Street.

From delicious salmon cooked in a creamy Cajun sauce, southern fried chicken, a king creole, a ‘soul’ burger or Cajun pork belly, there’s a whole lot of soul variety to tickle your taste-buds.

Participating venues in the festival this year are: The Bridge, Gallagher's Gastro Pub, Son of a Bun, The Shelbourne, The Everyman Theatre, The Metropole Hotel, Cask, The White Rabbit and Brú Bar and Hostel. With plenty of music, delicious food and drinks, there’s something for everyone at this year’s Soul in the City!

For a full list of events, visit soulinthecitycork.ie.

For tickets to Aretha: Queen of Soul go to everymancork.com.