Made in Belfast: Culture Night

The best evening of the year in Belfast is happening this Friday, the 20th: Culture Night. This year’s Culture Night has the theme of ‘Pride’; the concept will be seen throughout the performances and events. This is the perfect time to visit Belfast at night through a different lens, with street parties and concerts all over the city. With multiple Belfast events, the evening provides something for everyone. Now, with the addition of a Culture Day on Saturday the 21st, there is more opportunity to enjoy festivities made in Belfast. A wonderful blend of all the arts, from music to theatre, poetry, and art, the night and day will have something for everyone and answer the question of ‘what is culture’ to the people of Belfast. 

What is Culture Night Belfast 2019?

Culture Night Belfast has become a beloved evening in the city and pays tribute to some of our finest artists, photographers, singers, and musicians, amongst other salubrious arts contributors. It is a time of celebration that reflects the best parts of the city and its residents and is designed for all age groups, young and old. Culture Day was explicitly tailored towards young families, providing a range of family activities.The Culture Night team have also tried to make the event as accessible as possible for those with additional needs. A map of Culture Night is available in braille and large print on request. They have put a stairs icon on their maps to illustrate what spaces aren’t wheelchair friendly. Quiet, ASD-friendly spaces are also available throughout the city. Accessible toilets and changing facilities have been set up around the Culture Night area to create an inclusive night for all. 

Culture Night Belfast: How to Get There 

Culture Night Belfast is being supported by Translink, Northern Ireland’s public transport service. Extra capacity will be put on the Translink Metro and Glider services. Translink provides Metros and Gliders at 11:30 pm and midnight. You can stay for ‘ one more ‘ at 12.30 am and 1 am on selected routes. This will be for Culture Night only, but Culture Day will provide extra capacity on the Translink Metro and Glider services. Metro buses drop off into the city centre and the Laganside and Europa Buscentre, which are highly accessible to the events in Belfast. Lanyon Place Train Station services cross-border travel and is a fifteen-minute walk into the city centre. There will also be additional capacity on regular rail services that evening, with a third of a day return ticket if you travel after 9:30 am. Translink’s train and metro timetables are available online. 

Parking will be limited throughout the city, particularly in the Cathedral Quarter. There will be no on-street parking available on:

• Donegall Street
• North Street
• Royal Avenue 
• York Street 
• Academy Street
• Exchange Street West
• Talbot Street
• Waring Street

Being one of the most popular Belfast events, Culture Night and Day requires certain roads to be closed for public safety. Due to the extra public transport being available, the committee of Culture Night is asking people to try to leave their cars at home. If this isn’t possible, please use parking facilities outside these areas. Streets that will be closed this year include: 

• Gordon Street
• Talbot Street
• Exchange Street West 
• Academy Street
• Donegall Street
• Waring Street
• Donegall Place 
• Royal Avenue
• North Street
• York Street
• Skipper Street
• Bridge Street 
• Rosemary Street
• High Street 
• North Street
• Lombard Street
• Hill Street 

While this is an extensive list, it ensures complete public safety, not only on Culture Night but also on Culture Day. If your budget allows, the city of Belfast has an array of accommodations to suit all wallets. 

Made in Belfast: Culture Night Events 2019

Culture Night and Day Belfast 2019 are set to provide excitement and entertainment. Below is an array of Belfast events featured as part of 2019’s Culture Night that shouldn’t be missed. For an even more extensive selection, Culture Night’s website has a complete program that provides a link for the app, which can be downloaded to iOS and Android-compatible phones. 

Zone One: City Hall Area

Belfast’s proudest building, City Hall, is the city’s centre and hosts various events on Culture Night and Day. 

• City Hall offers guided building tours and free entry into the Visitor Exhibition Centre. The building is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and offers guided tours at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. Learning more about the city’s incredible architecture and enjoying some civic treasures is a beautiful opportunity. 
  
• Polercise will run on the City Hall grounds from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Polercise Pole Play will feature dance and fitness performances to highlight the sport’s athleticism and encourage others to get involved.

Zone Two: Bank Square and Castle Hill Street Area

An area renowned for containing world-famous pub Kelly’s Cellars – purveyors of Guinness and folk tunes, as well as one of the best seafood restaurants in the city, Mourne Seafood Bar. Bank Square is now hosting some local talent to be enjoyed by all. 

• Bank Square will host Explosion Sound System’s Roots and Culture performances. From 1 pm to 8 pm, the Roots Reggae crew will demonstrate their talents for the whole city.
• Waterstones Storytelling Time will recant your favourite stories. I told between 2 pm and 3:30 pm, Catherine and Belle would be your bards. The Fourth Wall Theatre Group will perform their piece ‘Shakespeare, Marlowe, and the Brontës’. It recounts how Shakespeare and Marlowe worked together, as well as documenting the troubled relationship between Patrick and Branwell Brontë. The performance will run between 5:30 pm and 6:30 pm.
• From 6 pm to 9 pm, Catalyst Arts Belfast will display FIX19 Performances from its curated selection of emerging artists.
• Culture Kiosk in Castle Place will host the Belfast Ukele Jam from 8 pm to 9 pm. This is a fun ukulele band to sing along to and get involved with.

Zone Three: Rosemary Street Area

Rosemary Street has deep historical connections to the United Irish Men via Rosemary Street Presbyterian Church. Now, it is historical in its own right through its association with Culture Night. 

• Rosemary Street Presbyterian Church has multiple unmissable events. From 5:30 pm to 6:45 pm, Jim & the Big Peach will be performed. It is the tale of Jim, a robot boy who is lost in the future, left on planet Earth to tell stories of the past. From 7 pm to 7:30 pm, ‘Change the World in Song! is being performed in the church. The pieces are meant to celebrate the power of song in peace, justice, and inspiration in harmony. Finally, the Belfast Operatic Company gives a variety of performances of multiple musicals. 
• Caffe Nero on Lombard Street hosts the Ulster Chess Union from 1 pm to 9 pm. Drop in and enjoy a game of chess, beginners and masters alike! 

 Zone Four: North Street and Lower Royal Avenue Area

North Street is famous for being home to some of the city’s quirkiest shops, which doesn’t stop for Culture Night. Interesting art events and poetry and music performances will be held. 

• PS² will exhibit ‘Still & Moving Images’ between 5 and 9 pm. Still & Moving Images will show video installations on one floor and paintings on another.

• Keats and Chapman will host a live performance event: Books and Beats. The event comprises local artists in literature and music, and performances will occur between 3 pm and 9 pm.

•  Atypical Gallery will host Cameron Morgan’s work under the ‘University of Atypical’ banner. The exhibition, which includes ceramics and prints exploring pocket objects, will be available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Zone Five: Saint Anne’s Cathedral Area

Belfast is a city because Saint Anne’s Cathedral Area hosts academia, cinema, art, and food, to name a few things. It is a delectable piece of Belfast culture. 

• St Anne’s Cathedral grounds hold the Street Feast Market from 1 pm to 9 pm. As part of the Taste of Ireland festival, the area will offer local foods to consumers and highlight some lesser-known local companies that will soon become firm favourites.
• Ulster University’s Conor Lecture Theatre will present Julian Friers’ Talk: ‘The Asteroid and the Plastic Bottle’. Julian Friers, one of Europe’s finest wildlife painters, will discuss his work and our planet as a shared home. This event is free, but booking is required: ulster. Ac. UK/lecture-frier. The lecture will begin at 6:30 pm and finish at 7:30 pm.
• Beanbag Cinema will show the Skyway Club Shoestring Movies from 5 pm to 9 pm. The concept is to show the most significant movies made with the smallest budget.
• Writer’s Square will exhibit David Magowan’s Migration, a Handmade bird installation that explores the movement of people and culture to and from Northern Ireland. It will be on display from 1 pm to 9 pm.

Zone Six: Waring Street and North Street Area 

Home to concept restaurants Six by Nico and the ever-popular pizza joint Pizza Punks, this area hosts more than just food with plenty of Belfast events. 

• Cotton Court will be the starting point for the Cathedral Quarter Walking Tours, which run at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. and aim to highlight the cultural history of the Cathedral Quarter.
• Waring Street/ North Street Intersection The Hillsborough Castle and Gardens staff are giving us ‘Historic Royal Palaces Dinner and Declarations (of independence)’. It is an 18th-century Come Dine with Me, except you’re eating with Ben Franklin & Wills Hill between 3:30 pm and 9 pm.

Zone Seven: High Street Area 

High Street is filled with local cafes and upmarket bars with incredible performers. Culture Night is no different. Some venues have put on extra exceptional artists for consumption this 2019.

• Ulster Sports Club have brought ‘Acid Granny’ from Dublin to perform between 6 pm and 9 pm. Acid Granny will play bangers from an electrified shopping trolley, a different music style.
• Young Savage, a hugely popular vintage store on Church Lane, will front The Strange Museum. Performing between 7 pm and 8 pm is one not to miss.

Zone Eight: Hill Street Area

One of the most beautiful streets in Belfast city, Hill Street is packed with venues and incredible restaurants. You are in the middle of the culture if you find yourself here. 

• The Black Box has organized an incredible lineup of local acts playing from 8 pm to late. There will be live music from New Pagans, Hot Cops, and Problem Patterns, to name a few. 
• Flow Studio offers free yoga classes in its Hill Street and Malone Road studios. The classes are from 1 to 2 p.m. and suit all abilities.
• Oh Yeah, the Music Centre will showcase incredible performances from the Ulster Youth Orchestra, Cheram, Kyoto Love Hotel, Jonny Hammond, and Connor Marcus. Airpunch Belfast will conduct the after-party. Indeed, it’s not a scene to miss.

Zone Nine: Saint Anne’s Square Area

Behind the Cathedral sits the Arts Hub of the city of Belfast, the MAC, and it is showcasing some incredible performances this year in its many performance spaces. 

• The MAC  will host Sarah McVeigh, who will play her electroacoustic harp and vocals between 4 pm and 4:45 pm. Sarah McVeigh performs a wide variety of songs on an electroacoustic lever harp.
• The MAC (The Works) will host a 45-minute lecture (6 pm and 6:45 pm) by The Open University on ‘Our Past, Your Future’. In conjunction with The Open University’s 50th anniversary, the lecture will explore our culture of learning and adapting to technological change.

Zone Ten: Belfast Harbour and Riverfront 

The harbour that made Belfast city famous with tenants like the Titanic entertains a different type of genius this Culture Night. 

• Donegall Quay will showcase parkour talent from the Jumo NI Parkour and Street Acrobatics Team. They are Ireland’s top parkour athletes and will perform between 3 pm and 9 pm. 
• Donegall Quay will host a talk by John Kindness on the Big Fish’s 20th anniversary. Kindness, who created the Big Fish, will discuss its conception and meaning from 7 to 9 p.m.
• Ridell’s Warehouse is opening for a Culture Night special. Culture Night x AVA will provide an immersive evening of music and stunning visuals. Playing from 5 pm to 9 pm, it will showcase the incredible Irish talent in electronic and house music. The whole exhibition will be curated and designed by AVA.

Zone Eleven: Smithfield area

Once beloved for its market, the Smithfield Area now has everyone’s favourite bar in its quarter: The Sunflower. With the inclusion of ‘Queer Quarter’, the area will have a delightful display of music and fun. 

• The Maverick / Boombox will host their block party on Culture Night between 4 pm and 9 pm. A self-proclaimed celebration and showcase of Belfast queer culture, glitter should be expected.
• Upstairs at the Sunflower Bar, the DAMD Theatre Company will perform short scenes from Arthur Miller’s play A View from the Bridge. The performance will be from 4.45 pm to 5.45 pm on Culture Night.
• Bear and Doll Front Bar will host the GXRL Code Takeover, featuring the most extensive female DJs, rappers, and singers nationwide. From 5 pm to 9 pm, this is an incredible chance to see women shining in male-dominated industries.

The Best of Belfast Events: Culture Night and Day 2019

After celebrating its tenth year in 2018, Culture Night Belfast enters its second decade better than ever. Continuing to champion local talent and feature up-and-coming artists, Culture Night reflects Belfast City’s best. Culture Night (Friday the 20th) Belfast events will run between 1 pm and 9 pm and 10 am-5 am on Culture Day (Saturday the 21st). Culture Hubs were developed for information, first aid, property, and lost people this year. The hubs are in the City Hall, the official Culture Hub on Rosemary Street, Cotton Court, St. Anne’s Cathedral, and the Culture Kiosk at Castle Place. An unforgettable night filled with the best of Belfast events: make sure you don’t miss the best night of the year.