Belfast 2024 Celebrates Diversity With Frederick Douglass Tribute

Belfast's rich diversity will be showcased in a vibrant autumn lineup for the Belfast 2024 creative program. The year-long celebration, managed by Belfast City Council and co-designed with residents and cultural organisations, has already featured over 450 events with over 34,000 attendees.

On October 24th and 25th, the Telegraph Building will host a unique celebration of the life and legacy of Frederick Douglass, an orator, writer, and abolitionist with strong connections to Belfast.

"North Star," a project devised by SoLab and Kwame Daniels, is inspired by Douglass' famous quote about his visit to the city in 1845: "wherever else I feel myself to be a stranger, I will remember I have a home in Belfast."

The showcase, presented as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Belfast Stories, and Ulster University, will feature Grammy Award winner Kaidi Tatham, award-winning poet Nandi Jola, rising stars Leo Miyagee and Winnie Ama, and special guests Ivor Novello nominee Hannah Peel and Colin Salmon. Inspired by engagement with almost 100 pupils from four Belfast schools, the event will offer an unforgettable experience of music, art, and literature rooted in the city's black cultures.

Tickets are available now for this evening of music and spoken word, with performances from Arco String Quartet, the PVN Gospel Choir and a host of upcoming local artists – book via belfast2024.co.uk

"There's so much to see and do this autumn for Belfast 2024. North Star will be a must-see evening of some of the city's most exciting musical talent and, like the programme overall, it's been shaped by extensive engagement with local residents and communities," said Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray.

"I'm really looking forward to Are You on The Bus? and discussing how far our city has come in its inclusivity, while our partnership with British Council for Red Sky at Night is bringing international artists to our city and encouraging future collaborations.

"Audience feedback for our Belfast 2024 events has been great, with 98% agreeing they would come to something similar again. Likewise, organisations and partners have found the experience really positive – building relationships, developing skills and supporting a sector which has had a tough few years."

For creative director Kwame Daniels, North Star is the ideal opportunity to showcase the city's talents and highlight why Belfast has been designated a UNESCO City of Music.

"I am beyond excited about bringing these powerhouses together, celebrating diversity, history and the artistic brilliance embedded in the city's soul, igniting a new dialogue, framed like no other," he said.

All eyes will be on the skies from 1-3 November for Red Sky at Night – a free night-time festival of new art commissions in six unique Belfast locations.

Explore installations and sound performances inspired by Belfast's past, present and future at dusk, created by international artists-in-residence from Palestine, Greece, Poland and Thailand, along with local artists from Belfast, led by Household Collective and supported by the British Council and the Mondriaan Fund. Locations include Riddel's Warehouse (Ann Street), the Palm House (Botanic Gardens), Carlisle Memorial Church (off Carlisle Circus), the former Bank of Ireland (Royal Avenue), 2 Royal Avenue and Waterworks (Antrim Road).

"The British Council is delighted to partner with Belfast City Council in developing international connections in the city and bringing international visibility to the ambitious Belfast 2024 programme throughout this year of cultural celebration," said Jonathan Stewart, Director British Council Northern Ireland.

"A particular highlight for us is our co-supported project with Household Belfast, Red Sky at Night, a programme of new art commissions by six international artists in unique locations across the city exploring the theme of Art and the Public Realm. Following residencies in Belfast, the artists have responded to the city through a range of art forms and their interventions into architecture, sound performances and immersive installations will create a night-time art festival that invites Belfast audiences to see the city in a new light."

Touch Hear Feel – running from 1-4 November as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival – is an ambitious production developed with Belfast's blind and partially sighted residents, together with RNIB, Open Arts NI and the University of Atypical.

The brainchild of visually impaired artist and choreographer Helen Hall, it invites audiences to physically engage with an interactive installation, made from reclaimed materials and located outdoors at 39 Corporation Street.

An audio narrative will provide insights into how blind and partially sighted people experience touch, while a new dance performance will further explore themes of touch and texture. Tickets are now sold out, but a wait list is available at belfast2024.co.uk

From 14 November to 6 December, explore key moments from Belfast's queer past with Are You On The Bus?

A collaboration between Outburst Arts and Kabosh Theatre, with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, this is a multi-faceted production shaped by the city's LGBTQIA+ communities. It includes a new theatre production from trans playwright Raphael Khouri on board a vintage bus, an audio play by Ballywalter screenwriter Stacey Gregg, Tails of the City – a series of essays reflecting on local queer moments in time - and Paperxclips, a new creative community hub on North Street offering workshops, talks and events.

Environmental campaigner and BBC presenter Chris Packham has also been confirmed as the first guest for Our Stories Festival – four days of creative talks, events, workshops and conversations, reflecting on the Belfast 2024 programme and its key aims of people, place and planet and looking ahead to the opening of Belfast Stories – a new visitor attraction for the city – in 2030.

The event, from 21-24 November, will be delivered by the Nerve Centre and the NI Science Festival, in partnership with Ulster University's 175th anniversary celebrations.

Packham will join Wild Belfast's Conor McKinney and Anna Kernahan from Fridays for Future NI at the Assembly Buildings on Thursday 21 November to share his insights into climate change and the role of young people in shaping future action.

Book now at belfast2024.co.uk where further details of the Our Stories Festival will be announced in due course.