For some years now, Belfast has been a city focused on reinvigorating itself – particularly in terms of culture and creativity.
The Visit Belfast team, who describes themselves as a collective of creatives, producers and project managers with experience in cultural and creative development, have been working alongside Culture and Tourism Unit of Belfast City Council, the creative sector, city stakeholders and the public to devise a programme of cultural celebration which will begin to come to life this year – 2024.
The programme will begin to address both issues which are specific to Belfast, as well as many issues that other UK cities may also be encountering. In doing so, it will encourage the people of Belfast to experience their cities in new, creative and inventive ways. It is hoped the programme 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” by encouraging the city’s residents to embrace creativity, nature and their relationships with those around them to forge better connections . Below is a link to the full programme.
https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/belfast2024/the-programme
All of the projects in this programme have been developed through conversations between local people, architects, designers, planners, artists, councillors, council officers and partnerships such as The Eden Project, Belfast Stories and The British Council Northern Ireland. These conversations have helped identify the needs of the community and allow people to express their thoughts on ways issues can be tackled. Detailed research has been carried out for each project and a variety of different opportunities have been created in which both individuals and groups can come together to involved in the celebration as a city of culture.
Examples of Projects
North Star by So Lab Collective
A project which will examine the idea of belonging through the lense of black culture by asking people, what makes them feel at home in Belfast.
Studio idir and Starling Start Consortium
Like many other industrial cities, Belfast has a network of alleyways or entries as they are often referred to locally. Having drawn up a map of these alleyways, the 9ft in Common Project seeks to uncover creative ways in which these spaces can be used to promote growth, creativity, social discourse and the development of new and continued connections. They have scheduled dates for city-wide community initiative to take place in 2024, for the planting of seeds and decoration of alleyways but they also provide a series of sketches with ideas and suggestions for local groups of people who want to become involved in decorating the alleys and entryways they share.
PS2 – Water Works
Not only is Belfast a city that is built on water, it is a city with a rich maritime history and heritage. Just as water has been of central significance to the city in the past, it is a city which will continue to rely on water in the future. PS 2’s Water Works project looks at ways it can encourage the city’s residents to reconsider its relationship with water so that a stronger, more respectful link can be re-established with its waterbodies whether streams, minor or major rivers or its freshwater or saltwater,loughs. By using Belfast’s waterways as a means to educate, entertain, include, have fun and encourage creativity, they hope to help focus the community’s attention on the need for sustainable water sources in the future.
https://www.pssquared.org/projects/water-works-announcing-our-belfast-2024-projectoject
Outlined above are only 3 of the programmes featuring in this year’s programme of events. The full programme, although hugely ambitious, has been in planning for a very long time with detailed assessment, research and planning going into creative ways to highlight many of the issues being faced in the city at present.
Visit Belfast works along with Belfast City Council, as well as the Northern Ireland Tourist Board to deliver organised marketing campaigns, as well as visitor guides and publications. They have a detailed schedule of projects on their website, as well as links to the websites of their partners which are easily accessed. They also provide press kits and kits for travel companies. The projects are well publicised on the ground here in Northern Ireland and there is very much an awareness and sense of excitement about the year ahead.
charlotte blair 
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