Queen's Festival On The Way

This year's Ulster Bank Festival at Queen's was launched this week by Stormont Arts Minister Nelson McCausland along with party colleague, the Tourism Minister, Arlene Foster.

Now in its 48th year, it is Northern Ireland's largest multi-arts festival and attracts the biggest names from the world of music, comedy and film, performing and visual arts.

It is taking place from 15 October and runs to 31 October at over 30 venues across the city and features more than 60 big-name acts over the 16 days.

Nelson McCausland said: "There is no doubt that the current economic climate presents a challenging environment for arts events and therefore it is encouraging to learn that the Ulster Bank Festival at Queen's is going from strength to strength."

Three years ago the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, along with the Ulster Bank, Queen's University, the Arts Council and Belfast City Council, created a financial package to secure the future of the Ulster Bank Festival at Queen's.

Minister McCausland added: "This festival has become a shining example of the benefit of strong public and private stakeholder partnerships.

"In these more difficult economic circumstances of today, creative and innovative partnerships will be essential to ensure NI's continued prosperity.

"While Government has a responsibility to provide support for the arts, in recent years, investment by the business sector is an increasingly important source of funding for the arts sector."

Also commenting, Tourism Minister Arlene Foster added that Queen's Festival is a flagship event that brings the very best of the international arts scene to Belfast.

"It also places some of Northern Ireland's most dynamic artists on an international stage. I welcome that the Northern Ireland Tourist Board has awarded £40,000 of funding towards the event.

"Music has a huge appeal to everyone and has been identified as a key product area for tourism development in Northern Ireland.

"We have a very strong music heritage that forms a key part of our unique culture, and music festivals and events act as a hook for visitors.

Arlene Foster concluded: "With more and more visitors being drawn here because of our rich musical heritage, we must capitalise on this and showcase what makes us so special, providing that unique experience for our visitors.

"This is exactly what the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's is doing."

(BMcC/GK)