Director’s Welcome 2024

Belfast International Arts Festival returns for its 62nd edition this October, bringing together today’s leading artists, writers, thinkers and cultural observers for an extended bumper five weeks of entertaining and enlightening talks, readings, exhibitions and performance from home and abroad.

Our mission is to bring people together, to promote international understanding, social cohesion, and to celebrate diversity through the creative arts. Together with our many creative and community partners, we work to create, produce and present inspiring artistic experiences that highlight the very best of our city and country.

As in recent years, we invite you to enjoy the special events in our advance summer season; Threads of Empowerment: Conflict Textiles’ International Journey at the Ulster Museum and ROOTS, a new outdoor dance performance and audiotrail from former artist in residence, Eileen McClory for Off The Rails at the new Black Mountain Shared Space.

Our autumn festival opens on 16 October with The Tragedy of Richard III by Oisin Kearney and Michael Patrick for The Lyric theatre and continues with new theatre from Tinderbox Theatre Company, Big Telly, Prime Cut and Dominic Montague and our critically acclaimed collaboration with Cahoots – The Vanishing Elephant – which opened last October on Broadway in New York and was a Critic’s Choice in The New York Times. Alongside new dance works from Helen Hall and Michael McEvoy, these events also feature in a major showcase for visiting international arts programmers, generously supported by Culture Ireland.

We’re delighted to support the Belfast 2024 programme with our own production of Touch Hear Feel, a new dance performance installation from current Festival Artist in Residence, Helen Hall and co-designed with members of the visually impaired community; North Star an immersive live music performance from new ensemble Solab and inspired by the historic speech given by orator, writer, and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass in Belfast in 1845; and the aforementioned Roots.

We continue to profile important contemporary artists from the Arab worldand this year, we are honoured to host a double bill of dance and movement from Palestine – Losing It and In Between – in partnership with Festival and Féile an Phobail and also supported by Belfast 2024 and the British Council.

A diverse range of music genres includes concerts from Les Amazones d’Afrique; Ciaran Lavery launching his new album; the return of BBC Introducing; Iron and Wine; and the Ulster Orchestra, who also guest with blues legends Dave Kelly and Paul Jones in a special collaboration at The Grand Opera House.

In a packed visual arts programme, we are particularly delighted to promote Ulster University’s celebrations for the 175th anniversary of the Belfast School of Art.

Our Talks and Ideas strand welcomes Michael Longley to celebrate his new collection Ash Keys, as well as many other acclaimed writers including David Peace, Naomi Alderman, Ingrid Persaud, and Sunjeev Sahota.

As always, we have many free events including exhibitions, workshops and performances, including the spectacular and acrobatic WILD from Motionhouse at CS Lewis Square.

We look forward to seeing you at many of our events.

Richard Wakely
Artistic Director and Chief Executive