Events

Come along for a walk along the Connswater Community Greenway to celebrate Belfast City Council's new 'A Walk in the Park' guide.

On the walk, lead by experienced Greenway Leaders, you will discover some hidden locations made famous by son of the city, Van Morrison. You'll also get the opportunity to explore explore nature and see the bridge said to have been used by Conn O'Neill himself. The walk will include The Hollow and Orangefield Park.

Please wear sensible walking shoes and dress appropriately for the weather.

For more information or to book your place contact access@belfastcity.gov.uk or call 02890320202 ext. 3199 or 07825450818

Thursday 1 Aug - Friday 9 Aug
2pm - 6pm

An exhibition of artists’ limited edition prints. Produced and curated by our members, this exhibition will showcase a series of limited edition prints of original artwork. All work will be for sale and can be purchased on site. 

Come on down to C.S. Lewis Square for all the fun of our Festival Fayre. With food stalls from all around the world, street style henna tattooing and ArtsEkta’s exhilarating ‘A World of Rhythms’ extravaganza, we can guarantee you’ll feel like you’re on your holidays, no matter what the weather’s doing!

This World Music, dance and street theatre spectacle is like nothing you have ever seen before. Find yourself transported across the continents to China, Africa and India at this dazzling display of international and local talent - featuring dancers, drummers and puppeteers - right here in the heart of east Belfast. 

Make smart moves to the Festival Fayre with Translink – visit www.translink.co.uk, call 028 90 66 66 30 and follow @Translink_NI #smartmovers

Get ready to turn your Thursday evening up a level. More Volume are in town and they will be lining up some of Belfast’s most exciting, up-and-coming DJs for a night of live music that is guaranteed to blow  your socks off.

More Volume is an events and industry mentoring scheme for young people across Belfast, delivered by the Oh Yeah Music Centre and generously supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. This year they have been working with a group from East Belfast Alternatives to devise and deliver this special live show for EastSide Arts Festival 2019.

Matt McGinn is a singer, songwriter and producer from the foothills of the Mourne Mountains in Hilltown, Co. Down. You can hear by his warm worn powerful rasping voice, and his worldly-wise lyrics that this is not Matt's first dance. Far from it...

 In 2018 he released his third full length studio album, 'The End of the Common Man' to great acclaim for both its musicality and strong social message. His current project 'Lessons of War' sees collaborations with musicians across the globe who have experienced war or conflict.

Matt will be joined onstage by John McCullough, Colm McClean & Nicky Scott

 "An outstanding blend of soulful passion and melody that will haunt and inspire...9/10" AMERICANA UK

JamzNI 2019 is an outdoor cypher/Street Dance Battle event run alongside Project Dance. This event is a United Dance Organisation World Championship qualifier and all 1v1 Battle winners will receive cash prizes and a ticket straight to the stage of the UDO World Championship Finals.  One of this year’s judges is Germanys’ Got Talent Golden Buzzer Winner “Andreas Wickedmindz”. Styles for UDO battles include “Popping” “Locking” “Breaking” “Hip Hop”, Non UDO Battles include “Experimental” “All Styles”. The event will include Live DJ, BBQ, Street Artists and much, much more.

Get your crimpers on and your moustaches trimmed because tonight we're gonna head back in time and party like it's 1985 at our totally tubular 80’s prom.

Dance all night long to your favourite 80’s hits with live music from 'Pop Gun' followed by a righteous set from Shade DJs. You'll have the time of your life with a chance to be crowned prom king or queen on the night, plus extra prizes for best and funniest outfits. This is your chance to go back to high school and do it properly.

Magic is currently going through a revival in the UK and the magic scene in Northern Ireland is growing from strength to strength. This course introduces enthusiastic beginners to the secret world of the magician, guided by professional magician Caolan McBride.

Suitable for ages 15+

F: 12pm, 2pm, 3pm
S: 10am, 11am, 12pm

Baby Daddy is a show for babies aged 6-18 months with an all-male cast.  Three actor-musicians perform to 6-8 babies at a time (and their grown-ups) in our specially-designed tourable theatre space. The performance will last 30 minutes, with optional stay and play.

Baby Daddy has been developed in consultation with Bright Sparks Daycare, Belfast.

Suitable for babies aged 6-18 months

Practical advice on how online tools can make you more efficient, keep your data secure, and can help you promote your work with minimal effort and cost. This workshop is aimed at beginners.

Calling all yoga virgins, this workshop is for you! Guided by a teacher from Yoga Quarter you will be led through a gentle practice that will introduce you to the principles of yoga. No experience needed, wear loose clothes, mats provided.

Tenx9 has been bringing true stories to Belfast audiences since 2011 and has now spread across the world. It’s a simple concept - nine people have up to ten minutes to tell a true story from their own life on a theme - in this case “All sorts…"

The purpose of this workshop is to help people identify their story, structure it and write it with a view to presenting it at the tenx9 event on Sunday 4th August. The workshopwill be conducted by Paul Doran, co-founder of tenx9.

Join Belfast street artist Emic who will show you the basics of aerosol painting techniques like line control, tagging, fades. Together the group and the artist will work together to create a large-scale mural on the walls of the Vault. The workshop is suitable for beginners and those with previous experience.

Join your guide Lynn Corken on this fascinating journey through the East Belfast of Van’s youth; a wonderful opportunity to visit some of the places that the singer knew as a child growing up in this part of the city.  Many of these places, and the people who lived here, were inspirational to Van and are referenced in his lyrics and music.  The tour lasts approx. 2 hours and covers a distance of 3.5km. Come prepared for the weather and wear comfortable footwear.

Featuring the Rosie McGurran Exhibition, Between Worlds; the Door to the Stolen Days and an informal talk about the artist and her work by Dr Ann McVeigh. Refreshments provided.

Rosie’s exhibition is a series of works that evoke the idyllic days of childhood holidays, when making daisy-chains and fishing for tadpoles seemed the most important way to spend one’s time.  Containing a sense of whimsy, they are nevertheless, emotive and powerful evocations of the time before adulthood.

Exhibition will run until Saturday 31st August, during normal opening hours.

Learn how to throw an axe. YES AN AXE!
Join Angelique Ross for an afternoon of axe throwing. Axes provided.

Age 18+

A brand-new comedy sketch show, written and performed by Dan Leith, Rachael McCabe and Stephen Beggs.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a comedy troupe in possession of a huge talent must eventually break into the movies.  Those Who Can’t feel their time has come! But what movie to choose? What format will best suit their, er, unique ‘talents’?  Walk up the (metaphorical) red carpet and join our heroes live on stage as they do their best to find out.  Alright, Mr DeMille, Those Who Can’t are ready for their close up.

Suitable for ages 15+

1st - 3rd August 

A Thought for your Pennies… Never judge a cover by its book… Everything will be rain as right… What happens when the world stops making sense?

A powerful human story about family, love and the breakdown of the familiar in living with Dementia. Ray was raised by his grandfather, who lived his life as an International boxer. Unfortunately, Granda’s health regresses with a common condition among older fighters called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, causing rapid deterioration. Ray must now transition from Granda’s student to his carer, whilst also pursuing his own boxing career, the girl he loves and the everyday struggles of life.

Presented by Tinderbox Take Away Theatre Programme

Age 14+

Van Morrison sings about 'feeling wondrous and lit up inside', upon returning from the Castlereagh Hills and the Cregagh Glens. Join Mark Doherty for a guided walk up this lovely glen, through nature, history & music. The walk will be at a leisurely pace, but there is rough ground, many steps and a steep path. 'Go up to the Mountain. Go up to the Glen, when silence will touch you, and heartache will end.'

Join us for a fun-filled day of fantastic activities for the whole family. Enjoy live music from the ‘Forestside Live Sessions’ stage, food stalls, street theatre with Mr Mess, face painting, outdoor adventure activities, a surf simulator and much more!

Forestside and Eastside Arts Festival have teamed up to bring the Live Sessions stage to Orangefield Park, featuring many of the young artists involved in the annual Forestside Singer/Songwriter Competition. Every year the competition finds the very best under-20’s artists and opens up a full year of development opportunities, including playing at Belfast’s best festivals.

East Belfast is rapidly becoming known for the huge selection of street art and murals appearing on the walls, often replacing some of the more traditional murals of the area.  This 90-minute tour, led by tour guide and historian Peter McCabe, will call at a selection of these, focussing on Titanic, C.S. Lewis and many of the less well-known murals.

Festival favourite Play It Again Jam is a fun-packed, joyful Dementia Friendly gig which is open to absolutely everyone. This year’s event will be themed around the classic Louis Armstrong song, featuring dance from Swing Belfast, readings curated by Gaynor Kane and – of course - a rousing sing-along with the life-affirming Belfast Ukulele Jam. Why not drop in to say ‘How do you do?’ and get a wee reminder of the things that make this world so wonderful. Refreshments provided.

Tenx9 is a storytelling event where nine people have up to ten minutes each to tell a true story from their lives. Begun in Belfast in 2011 by Paul Doran and Pádraig Ó Tuama, Tenx9 now takes place in 17 cities worldwide, and is a firm favourite on the Belfast arts scene.

Curating true stories at these events, the organisers support new and established storytellers in this enormously popular evening.

Join us in the Park Avenue Hotel for this special EastSide Arts Festival Tenx9 event with the theme ‘All sorts.’

East Belfast Yoga and artists from Vault Artists Studios collaborate to bring you two very special festival yoga practices, each supported by a musician and visual artist from east Belfast's largest arts collective. Completely unrehearsed, the artists will respond to the yoga and the yoga flow will respond in return.

Accessible to yogis of all levels, the teachers come from Yoga Quarter, a yoga studio based in Ballyhackamore. Mats provided. 

East Belfast Yoga is an initiative of Yoga Quarter and Maitri Studio Belfast.

A Queer Céilí at the Marty Forsythe is an exciting production from Kabosh that explores the turbulent events of the 1983 National Union of Students Lesbian and Gay Conference, held at Queens University Belfast.

Met by large-scale protest from the ‘Save Ulster From Sodomy’ crusade, and mounting tensions within the NUS Executive, delegates were in danger of receiving anything but a warm Irish welcome. That was all about to change when they were offered an invitation from the community in West Belfast to join them at the Martin Forsythe Social Club in Turf Lodge, an invitation that was eagerly accepted…

Set against the soundscape of 1983 Belfast: the escalating Troubles; vocal and violent opposition to homosexuality; and a thriving punk scene, A Queer Céilí at the Marty Forsythe looks at a unique chapter in Belfast’s history and celebrates commonality and camaraderie in the face of adversity.

Written by Dominic Montague, directed by Paula McFetridge

Featuring Paula Carson, Chris Grant, Brendan Quinn and Simon Sweeney

“the combination of pathos and laughter creates moments of remarkably raw and electric theatre” – Alan in Belfast

“a barnstorming performance bringing back to life those heady days when change and revolution were in the air” – Irish Central

“A heartfelt, well-researched play… Montague offers a glimpse of gay life amid sectarianism, violence and bigotry” – The Irish Times

Age: 18 +

We’ve teamed up with Irish Tour Tickets this year to offer a bespoke George Best Bus Tour taking in a guided tour of Windsor Park, access to the George Best House and a visit to the final resting place of ‘the Belfast boy’ in Roselawn Cemetery. On this tour you will hear stories of George’s early life growing up in east Belfast, his incredible footballing career and how his charisma still touches the lives of so many people from all around the world today. 

Tai Chi for Beginners is a range of simple movements which will improve your health, energy and well being.

*This activity is for over 18s due to insurance*

Meet at Victoria Park Pavilion. Class will be held within a marquee.

Developed in partnership with EBCDA.

This is a FREE event but booking is required.

In partnership with Tullycarnet Yarnspinners

Join Liz Weir and friends for a relaxing afternoon of tales and tunes in Tullycarnet Library. Tullycarnet has been hosting yarn spinning outings for adults for the past 26 years and during this special event, a variety of storytellers and musicians will accompany Libraries NI Storyteller-in-Residence Liz Weir for a relaxing afternoon of tales and tunes.

Peacock Angell draws the audience into the world of working-class Northern Irish shipyard poet and dramatist Thomas Carnduff, performing original musical settings of his poems interwoven with fascinating biographical excerpts from early-20th century Belfast.

Violinist/singer Ruth Angell (Ashley Hutchings' Rainbow Chasers) brings her spellbinding voice, and Sid Peacock his dextrous acoustic guitar, to this truly captivating mix of music, poetry and history. With special guest Steve Tromans.

'Wildly creative.' Independent on Sunday

This event is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend Sam McCready who was a lifelong supporter of east Belfast and friend to the festival. He and his wife Joan were key collaborators for Songs of the Shipyard at ESAF ‘17. He is very much missed.

Uncover the hidden Gaelic history of East Belfast on this 90 minute bus tour from the ill-starred Irish lord Conn O’Neill to the family raised entirely in Irish on the Castlereagh Road in the 1950s. Hear about the native Irish-speaking Methodist preacher buried on the Newtownards Road and the activities of the Ballymacarrett, Bloomfield and Breda branches of the Gaelic League. Visit the east Belfast that you never knew existed. 

Aidan Campbell takes us on a journey around east Belfast exploring some of the homes of the wealthy business owners and the families who lived in them.

Who knows what will happen when the kids take control? Strand Arts Centre have teamed up with Knocknagoney Community Centre's summer scheme kids to host a movie night like no other. The lights are down, the projector is ready and things are about to get magical...

To book: Knocknagoney Community Centre hindsm@belfastcity.gov.uk or call 02890761432

Throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties, the events of the Troubles were headline news throughout the world. Reporting the Troubles brings together over sixty stories from the journalists who were on the ground. A remarkable, important book that spans the thirty-year conflict, from the day in 1969 that the violence erupted on Duke Street in Derry, to the Good Friday Agreement and the Omagh bomb.

Join the book’s editors – award-winning journalists Deric Henderson (former Ireland Editor of the Press) and Ivan Little (UTV, ITN, Belfast Telegraph) – as they discuss their first-hand experiences in the field and answer your questions about life as a reporter during this momentous period in Northern Ireland’s history.

Deric and Ivan will be joined by special guest Eamonn Mallie (RTE, BBC, Downtown Radio) for this event. 

‘The King Of East Belfast’ is the story of two men, both called Clark Groves.  One was a bookie at Holywood Arches in the 1950s – a big man with a character to match.  His grandson owned and ran the much-loved Groves Hardware at Ballyhackamore throughout the Troubles and into peacetime.  2020 will see the premiere of a theatre performance about the life and times of these two men.  This year, come along and hear theatre maker Stephen Beggs discuss the story so far.  Expect tall tales and true stories a plenty!

 

Take a break from your shopping for some beary bookish fun with children's author, Myra Zepf.  Hear bear stories, dress as Benno the bear and learn how to make a simple origami bear to take home. Could you really bear to miss it?? All ages of children (and their grown-ups) are welcome.

The Irish Video Game Orchestra are giving players of any age an opportunity to sit along with their musicians and play through a few of the pieces included in their main concert at 7pm in The Big Top. If you would like to take part in this please contact the IVGO via Facebook or Instagram, or at ivgorchestra@gmail.com before the end of July - this is to confirm instrument availability and provide parts.

Recommended ability is Grade 4-8 and above. 

Please bring cash on the day. 

The Irish Video Game Orchestra are a team of forward-thinking musicians who merge modern music with classical composition to create new and exciting renditions of scores from video games, anime, film and TV. The IVGO have been shortlisted for national and international awards and have played across Ireland, entertaining audiences of all ages with a dynamic mix of modern and classical music, played alongside a stunning large screen visual display.

Join award-winning children's author, Myra Zepf for a story-making brainstorm, using props and prompts to spark your imagination and give your brain a creative work out!

Suitable for ages 6+

This presentation will provide a wide-ranging account of the Workman Clark shipyard and its employees’ involvement in the First World War. It will include biographies of men from the shipyard who served and cover the firm's contribution to the war effort.

There will be a chance to visit the memorial after the talk.

60-year anniversary of this Billy Wilder classic.

Join us for a live Jazz performance before the film by Caroline & Ivan Brown.

After witnessing a Mafia murder, slick saxophone player Joe (Tony Curtis) and his long-suffering buddy Jerry (Jack Lemmon) improvise a quick plan to escape from Chicago with their lives. Disguising themselves as women, they join an all-female jazz band and hop a train bound for sunny Florida. While Joe pretends to be a millionaire to win the band's sexy singer, Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), Jerry finds himself pursued by a real millionaire (Joe E. Brown) as things heat up and the mobsters close in.

Come along to Connswater and celebrate EastSide Arts Festival with food, culture and family fun at our Twilight Market. We will have market traders, live music, kids fun and sampling in a relaxed atmosphere. Our traders will be showcasing products along with external traders offering crafts and gifts that are a little different and not on the high street.

All entertainment is free and you will have the opportunity to sign up for Connswater VIP for half price.

See Connswater in a whole new light, TWILIGHT.

Ireland's only revolutionary circus. Hand crafted and brewed in Belfast. Tumble Circus are fully organic, gluten free and gender neutral. Be prepared to have your mind blown, witness kick ass circus skills and laugh out loud comedy. One hour of hammer-smashing Belfast inspired circus to start the weekend early…in style!

Tumble Circus is an international, award-winning company based in east Belfast, run from caravans, hotel rooms and a Ford Transit van. The company has toured extensively throughout Ireland, Europe and the world.

Full bar service available.

Age PG

Come join us at the Vault for the FunKademy! #FUNK This funky fun place is where your imagination can flow and you can have fun as a family. Join industry professionals as they give you a taster into all things creative, think wonderland meets urban art! We will have taster sessions in street art, crazy craft cardboard world, be a DJ, kids yoga, pop video making, nature hunters and much much more! Wear lots of layers if the weather is cold and make sure you can get messy.  Bring snacks and even a picnic lunch.

Suitable for ages 12-16, must be accompanied by an adult

Boys wear blue and girls wear pink. Or can they wear both? Is it true that girls and boys are so different? Two clowns explore all these questions and play with what is means to be a boy or a girl… or maybe both… or maybe neither! With silliness and fun, this show aims to find out if we can all be who we want to be and accept others as they are too!

Directed by Gemma Mae Halligan, starring Gemma Mae Halligan and Jude Quinn. This is a non-verbal show with music by Neil Foster, duration approx. 40 minutes.

Age 4+

From CS Lewis to Stephen Gilbert, Northern Ireland has produced many fine writers of fantasy and science fiction. Steven Rainey boldly goes where few readers have gone before, on a journey to uncover the forgotten gems in our literary history.

Hidden behind an unassuming door in east Belfast lies a tranquil party paradise, hosted by the one-and-only party princess, Lady Portia. With live music by Aidan Logan and friends, Hostess with the Mostess, Lady P will provide a glass of bubbles on arrival and some nibbles, but have dinner before you come, and BYOB. Watch the sun set in a very secret garden. Places very limited, early booking advised.

If you've ever been unemployed, studying a humanities degree, or sick, you've played Murder She Got Wrote Off - that is, watching Murder She Wrote while drinking.

Now you can recreate that experience with friends and family, in this live drinking game - so it's handy that there's a bar. The only skill required is the skill to bend your elbow and open your mouth any time Jessica Fletcher says "I don't mean to pry, but..."

Audience fancy dress is encouraged.

Suitable for ages 18+

Open to both men and women (!), this tour will visit the graves of 20 pioneering women interred in Dundonald Cemetery. Graves will include Emily Desano who died last year at age 106, Mary Jane Sloan Gleason who survived the Titanic, Lady Dixon (of Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park), Mary Glasgow, MBE 'a friend to many during her internment in a Prisoner of War camp in the Far East’, and the appropriately named Mary De'Ath!

Drag Queen Story Time brings your favourite childhood stories to life through the art of drag!

Join Lady Portia Di’Monte, Onya Becks and Cherrie Ontop for a morning of family friendly fun, where they will read from books that will take you on an adventure filled with laughter and colour and teach you to be you!

Drag Queen Story Time has been in libraries and venues across Northern Ireland, championing individuality and inclusivity amongst its young audiences, and is now coming to EastSide Arts Festival! Featuring singalongs and dancing, this event is suitable for all ages and families.

Join east Belfast native Bill Morrison on a trip down memory lane as he reflects on the impact that live music, in particular afternoons at 'The Pound', had on the lives of young people across the city during the 60s, 70s and 80s. With a selection of old photographs and recordings, this fascinating presentation in EastSide Gallery is sure to evoke emotions and is the perfect pre-gig event for those heading to 'The Pound Remembers' at 2:30pm in the C.S. Lewis Square.  

During the 1960s and 70s, east Belfast’s energetic music scene found its home in The Pound. Relive the atmosphere at this special gig with Pound legends Light and The Monarchs, as they recreate the sounds of Belfast’s hippest club in its heyday.

Belfast rock band Light featured Jim Armstrong (Them) on guitar and played to packed venues throughout the 70s. Tonight, bassist/vocalist Albert Mills joins forces with new talent to faithfully reproduce the old songs.

The Monarchs played with Van Morrison and the same nightclub circuit as The Beatles in Germany. Join original members and special guests John Wilson (Taste, Thin Lizzy) and Rod Derick (The Strawbs, Dr. John) for their first reunion in over fifty years!

Following last year's sell out run of Chatroom, Apollo Arts are back with VERONICA'S ROOM - a chilling mystery by the author of Rosemary's Baby that explores the thin line between fantasy and reality,
madness and murder.

Students Susan and Larry are invited to the Brabissant mansion by its dissolute caretakers the Mackeys. Struck by Susan's resemblance to Veronica Brabissant - their employer’s long deceased daughter - the older couple gradually induce her to impersonate Veronica to solace the surviving sister. Once dressed in Veronica's clothes, Susan finds herself locked in the role and locked in Veronica's room. Or is she Veronica, pretending to be an imaginary Susan?

Directed by Nathan Jones.

12+

If you've ever been unemployed, studying a humanities degree, or sick, you've played Murder She Got Wrote Off - that is, watching Murder She Wrote while drinking.

Now you can recreate that experience with friends and family, in this live drinking game - so it's handy that there's a bar. The only skill required is the skill to bend your elbow and open your mouth any time Jessica Fletcher says "I don't mean to pry, but..."

Audience fancy dress is encouraged.

Suitable for ages 18+

An hour long painting and drawing workshop for families - participants will experiment with a range of techniques to create one GIANT unique artwork! Prepare to get messy!!! With art facilitators Amy Higgins and Rachel Lawell.

To book, contact gallery@queenstreetstudios.net or call 07495 013947

Suitable for ages 6+

Try out a variety of painting styles and processes in this supportive and interactive painting circle. Materials provided, but feel free to bring along any painting equipment you wish to use. Facilitated by Amy Higgins & Rachel Lawell.

Email gallery@queenstreetstudios.net or call 07495 013947 to book a place. 

Join Lady P and a host of cabaret stars from across Ireland as they pull down the final curtain on the 2019 EastSide Arts Festival with more glitz, glam and excitement then Liberace’s underwear drawer!

This isn't your average cabaret show, oh no, it's got high heels, low humour and big hair! We're talking sequins, stilettos and attitude with your host Lady Portia Di'Monte, Northern Ireland's first lady of Drag and the most beautiful face never to be discovered.

Lady P will be joined by Miss Bunny O'Hare, Miss Onya Becks and Miss Cherrie On Top and a few special guests. Expect sassy banter, sketches, party songs, competitions and live vocals as this ostentatious line-up take you through some of their favourite movies and TV shows and get your toes tapping. What have you got to lose, other than your voice from cheering?!

Age 16+

Tai Chi for Beginners is a range of simple movements which will improve your health, energy and well being.

*This activity is for over 18s due to insurance*

Meet at Victoria Park Pavilion. Class will be held within a marquee.

Developed in partnership with EBCDA.

This is a FREE event but booking is required.

Thursday 1 Aug - Friday 30 Aug

‘Alleys and Rivers of the East’ is a series of artworks by artist Jonathan Brennan on the theme of alleyways, greenways and rivers in East Belfast. Comprising works on paper and unique multi-photograph compositions, the exhibition will also feature Brennan’s short film Alleys of the East. The subject of alleys, or entries, and the ways in which we use them has intrigued Brennan from his arrival in Belfast. Exhibiting some of the alley pieces in 2017, he has since turned his attention to the hidden rivers of East Belfast, following them under bridges and down culverts as they snake through our semi-urban landscape. The result is a fascinating mix of monotypes, cyanotypes, etchings, photographs and video.