Belfast City Council Announces Events For New Arts Space

Belfast City Council has announced a range of fun activities and events – from sound baths to slime workshops, live music performances to tea dances and yoga – at the city's newest arts space, 2 Royal Avenue.

Councillor Ryan Murphy, chair of Belfast City Council's City Growth and Regeneration Committee, said: "Since 2 Royal Avenue opened its doors at the end of last year, hundreds of people have been stopping by to enjoy the events that have been on offer, and rediscovering this iconic building in the heart of our city centre.

"It's such an impressive building; the architectural details have rightly been wowing people and people have been sharing their snaps on social media which has helped to create a real buzz around the venue.

"I'm delighted that the space is being used to host a wide range of activities – many of which are free – as we experiment and reimagine the ways in which we use our public buildings and city centre spaces for tourism and culture."

2 Royal Avenue is one of the city's most recognisable listed buildings. Once a former bank and more recently a Tesco Metro store, it was acquired by Belfast City Council last year.

With funding from Tourism NI's Market Led Product Development Programme, the Council has been exploring a variety of temporary ‘meanwhile' uses for the venue by piloting a series of events and activities in recent months, with new programming planned for the weeks ahead.

Tourism NI's Regions Manager, Ainsley McWilliams said: "We are delighted to see this iconic building come to life in the form of an events space. Another fantastic addition to our visitor offering here in Belfast. This unique venue marks the beginning of an exciting upscaled programme of culture and creativity which will play an important role in supporting our collaborative and innovative approach to the tourism sector's recovery.

"We congratulate the team at Belfast City Council for their hard work in delivering this compelling new addition to the tourism product in Northern Ireland."

Options for a more permanent, long-term use for the building will be considered by Belfast councillors in the coming months.

Councillor Murphy added: "This has been an exciting proposition for the city as we move forward on our Covid recovery journey, and with the constantly changing face of our High Street, we believe it's important to be creative and ambitious about reimagining how we use the buildings and spaces in our city centre to cultivate a vibrant and attractive offering - not just for tourists and visitors, but for our residents also.

"We want the building to be seen as a welcoming space for people to meet for a cuppa and a chat, to take a break over lunch and enjoy a pop-up live music performance, or to take part in some of the wellbeing workshops and activities that are planned. It has a real family vibe too and I would encourage people who maybe haven't visited yet to pop in over the half term holidays and see this impressive venue for themselves."

The venue also boasts a coffee shop serving up a range of Fairtrade drinks and sweet treats from local bakers, with comfy seating for people to linger and soak up the atmosphere.

Music has also been a focus of the programming as Belfast celebrates its recent UNESCO City of Music status, giving a showcase to local musicians covering a vast range of styles and genres.