Pictured at the launch of the 2024 Belfast International Arts Festival programme are musician Ciaran Lavery (left) and festival chief executive and artistic director Richard Wakely with Phillipa O'Hara (centre) and baby elephant Janu from the upcoming production of The Vanishing Elephant by Cahoots at The Grand Opera House.
Belfast International Arts Festival, the city’s longest-running celebration of arts and culture, has officially revealed the line-up for its 62nd edition with a bumper five-week programme of events taking place city-wide this autumn that features artists from 16 different countries across five continents.
The festival returns from 16 October – 23 November with a new season of contemporary arts and culture in over 30 venues across Belfast and features the very best international and homegrown artists from the worlds of theatre, dance, music, visual arts, literature and film. This year’s programme boasts a truly international line-up of artists from across Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia.
A key feature of this year’s edition is the diverse range and number of creative partners involved in the programme, including Belfast 2024, the 175th anniversary of the Belfast School of Art at Ulster University, RNIB, Féile an Phobail, UNESCO City of Music, Eastside Arts and Outburst Arts.
Festival Chief Executive and Artistic Director Richard Wakely says:
“Belfast International Arts Festival is a window to the world. This year’s programme is hugely diverse, which we believe really reflects a contemporary, cosmopolitan Belfast and embodies our mission to bring people together, to promote international understanding and social cohesion, and to celebrate diversity through the creative arts.
“In partnership with our many creative and community partners, we’ve worked to create, produce and present an autumn season of inspiring artistic experiences that highlight the very best of our city and country and we hope to see audiences embrace all that this year’s bumper festival has to offer.”
An exhilarating line-up of new theatre shows lead the festival’s opening, including the premieres of The Tragedy of Richard III, a Lyric Theatre production of the timeless Shakespearean tragedy adapted by Michael Patrick and Oisín Kearney; Yerma, a dark and seductive telling of Lorca’s powerful tragedy set in contemporary Ireland, adapted and directed by Patrick J O’Reilly for Tinderbox Theatre; Aurora: A Modern Myth, a new work which challenges audiences to rethink their relationship with nature, by Dominic Montague for Prime Cut Productions; and, fresh from its hugely successful off-Broadway run, The Vanishing Elephant by Cahoots, an epic tale of friendship and adventure that features extraordinary on-stage puppetry.
Continuing its support for Northern Ireland’s thriving contemporary dance community, the festival will present Touch, Hear, Feel, an ambitious new project by dancer/visual artist and current festival Artist-in-residence Helen Hall, commissioned by Belfast 2024, which transcends the visual realm and invites audiences to reimagine the way we experience art, and, by Michael McEvoy, The Gate House, a journey through three generations of Belfast stories. All these productions feature in the first major showcase of theatre and dance that Belfast International Arts Festival is hosting for visiting arts programmers from across the world. This very special event promoting the best of our local talent to the international arts community is generously supported by Culture Ireland and Belfast City Council and delivered in partnership with both Theatre and Dance NI and British Council NI.
The festival will also present dance from farther afield, including an evening of performance from Palestine exploring the trauma of war through movement and sound in a double bill of Losing It from Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre and In Between by Esam Sultan, in partnership with Féile an Phobail. Luail, the new all island dance company makes its NI debut with Impasse by Mufutau Yusef whilst free performances of the hugely entertaining and acrobatic Wild from Motionhouse take place at CS Lewis Square, as part of a wider programme strand of free performances and community engagement called Embrace.
Pictured at the launch of the 2024 Belfast International Arts Festival programme are (from left) musician Ciaran Lavery, Cahoots artistic director Paul Bosco McEneaney, Belfast Lord Mayor councillor Micky Murray, festival chief executive and artistic director Richard Wakely, festival chair Fiona Kane, and Philippa O’Hara with baby elephant Janu from the upcoming production of The Vanishing Elephant at The Grand Opera House.
As part of this year’s music programme, BBC Introducing LIVE returns for its second year with a line-up that includes rising stars Le Boom, CHERYM, Dea Matrona and TRAMP; Ciaran Lavery melds his distinctive sound with musical theatre in an immersive live music experience that follows the artist’s battle against crippling creative self-doubt; Les Amazones d'Afrique, the all-female west African supergroup, fuse African heritage with contemporary pop to champion the rights of women and girls; and blues legends Paul Jones and Dave Kelly, and the masterful Irish singer-songwriter Freddie White, present an evening of Blues & Ballads, with special guests the Ulster Orchestra.
The festival’s Talks & Ideas strand brings together international and local writers, including Michael Longley, one of the great poets of the last century, who celebrates his 85th birthday this year, and The Damned Utd author David Peace, whose latest novel, Munichs, the third entry in his football-themed trilogy, publishes later this year. The festival also welcomes three celebrated writers from Trinidad and Jamaica to Belfast: Passiontide author Monique Roffey, Hungry Ghosts author Kevin Jared Hosein, and Safiya Sinclair.
Head of Literature and Drama at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Damian Smyth, adds:
“As the principal investor in Belfast International Arts Festival, the Arts Council is delighted to welcome another wonderful contribution to this great annual celebration of the arts. This is a festival which prides itself on reflecting and responding to contemporary arts and cultures from around the world, in all their richness and diversity, where audiences know they will be introduced to new ideas, new experiences and new inspirations. Reflecting the core values of the Arts Council’s strategic plan, ‘Championing the Arts 2024-34’, Belfast International Arts Festival ensures that there are fantastic opportunities here for people from all backgrounds to engage with some of the most exciting local and international arts, making this a very special and welcoming festival for everyone.”
Belfast Lord Mayor Councillor Micky Murray says:
“Belfast City Council is proud to be a longstanding supporter and funder of Belfast International Arts Festival, and I’m delighted that our partnership has stepped up another level with four commissions during Belfast 2024, our biggest ever city-wide celebration of culture and creativity. This summer BIAF presented the Belfast 2024 commission ROOTS, which saw choreographer Eileen McClory work with gardeners to create space to grow, dance, and dream at Black Mountain Shared Space.
“This autumn, there’ll be three further really special, memorable commissions: Touch, Hear, Feel will help us to understand our blind and partially sighted community’s diverse perspectives and lived experiences, Losing It and In Between – a Palestinian dance double-bill – will explore the trauma of war, in partnership with Féile An Phobail, and Solab’s North Star, which takes place in The Telegraph Building, will take us on a creative journey, deeply rooted in Black music and cultures, from 1845 Belfast to Belfast 2024. Congratulations to Richard Wakely and his team on a superbly created programme. I can’t wait to see Belfast residents and visitors enjoying and being inspired by this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival.”
The festival’s customary schedule is extended into mid-November to include several special events celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Belfast School of Art at Ulster University, including talks from Colin Davidson, Alice Maher and an evening of reflections on the enduring legacy of German artist Joseph Beuys in Northern Ireland from Dr Sandra Johnson and Anna Liesching. Outburst Queer Arts Festival and Ulster Presents will host Mixtape #1, a new collaboration with one of Belfast School of Art’s most acclaimed graduates, Phil Collins.
For more information, to view the full programme, or to book tickets, tap here.