Belfast's got the Buzz!
At NI Connections, we’re passionate about celebrating every part of Northern Ireland. From Ballycastle to Banbridge, and Cookstown to Comber.
But today it’s all about our capital city, Belfast. We thought it was about time we gave the big smoke some airtime.
What she lacks in square footage, she makes up for in character. Belfast is known the world over for its unparalleled hospitality, fascinating history, and distinctive ‘buzz’ that’s hard to describe, but easy to feel.
If you grew up in Belfast, what do you think it is that gives Belfast its ‘buzz?’
Of course it’s subjective, but we reckon it’s a rare concoction of our rich culture, raucous craic and creative spirit that spills onto every street in the city.
Speaking of creativity. Have you heard about Belfast 2024?
‘Made by the people of Belfast, for the people of Belfast’ - Belfast 2024 is the biggest creative and cultural celebration our city has ever seen!
Belfast 2024 has been co-created by the residents, artists, creatives and organisations of the city, and it’s great to see Belfast City Council investing £5.9 million into the initiative.
But what will that money do, exactly?
(So glad you asked).
The funding will support jobs in the cultural sector, help to drive footfall into the city centre, encourage more people to embrace their creativity by participating in the arts, and showcase the city as a global destination for culture.
In our books, that sounds like money well spent. Here are a few words from the guys at Belfast City Council…
We have been planning this creative celebration for Belfast for some time and we are excited to see our plans come to life in 2024. With Belfast 2024 we want to ignite a new chapter for our city – a time when we look forward, dream, imagine and invent what our future city could be. A city that embraces creativity and nature, a city where we are better connected with each other and with the world around us.
Delivering on our programme of cultural celebration in 2024 will bring about transformational change for Belfast and will facilitate the city to build its creative capacity to better understand our identity, our relationships with each other and our place in the world.
Don’t know about you, but that got us fired right up. We’re over the moon to see our own capital city getting the support it deserves, and a chance to shine on an international stage.
Here’s a wee taster of what you can expect from April to November 2024…
Nature-inspired Art
Belfast City Council are collaborating the Nerve Centre, Eden project and legendary artist and illustrator Oliver Jeffers, to develop public art installations based on the themes of nature, power, and a greener city. We’ve heard from a very reliable source that there’ll be a forest of sculptural chimneys topped with flowers appearing at Belfast City Hall in July!
City of Music Events
In August, Belfast will celebrate its black culture, with So Lab Collective inviting audiences on a musical journey that spans from 1845 to 2024. If that’s not your jam, there’ll also be a major concert featuring Ulster Orchestra and contemporary headliners later in the year, so keep an eye (and ear) out for those.
Guerrilla Gardening
This is every bit as exciting as it sounds. It involves rewilding peace walls in West Belfast into vibrant vertical gardens, and using dance, storytelling, and gardening to inspire civic spirit and activism within local communities. Plants, pride, and positive protests - what’s not to love?
Shadowdock Immersive Experience
This spectacle event in autumn 2024 will take place 40 feet below sea level, in the iconic dock where the Titanic was launched. Combining light, shadow, colour, and sound, it will invite people to experience the world around them from a whole new perspective. We’re on board, are you?
We’d be here all day if we kept listing all of the amazing events, but we couldn’t not give a quick shout-out to Belfast International Arts Festival and the Belfast Film Festival, which both take place in the autumn.
Are you flying home to the motherland between now and November this year? If so, you should click here to check out the local projects, events and city initiatives happening in Belfast every month. There’s over 200 of ‘em, so you’ll be spoiled for choice.
That’s all for now.
Keep shining, Belfast. Ye wee beauty!
