Northern Ireland could be having its very own Hogmanay as City Hall officials are to look at providing New Year’s Eve celebrations in Belfast city.
At a Belfast City Council committee meeting, elected members agreed to task council officers with writing a report looking at the potential for city celebrations on the last day of the year, after the Scottish fashion.
DUP Councillor Tracy Kelly proposed the idea, with backing from SDLP Councillor Séamas de Faoite.
At the February meeting of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee, Councillor Kelly said:
“We seem to stop at Christmas. I feel that on New Year’s Eve people are looking to Belfast for something to do and somewhere to go.
“It is very evident throughout the rest of the United Kingdom that events are on in the major cities. I would propose that we bring something back, to look at New Year’s Eve in the city.
“My party colleague in 2019 Dale Pankhurst had brought this forward as a motion, and then we obviously went into Covid, and nothing happened. We just forgot about it.”
Councillor de Faoite seconded the proposal, and said:
“I appreciate a focus around New Year’s, I have raised that as well, and Halloween. We have made progress on Halloween, and Christmas continues to be a great success, so something around New Year’s in the future would be fantastic.
“There is additional technology now, so that it doesn’t just have to be about fireworks. A lot of places have moved towards things like drone shows, which are a bit safer.”
Councillors during the meeting were discussing a report by officers on the council’s Christmas 2024 programme, and its success with the public.
The report stated that in excess of 10,500 people attended the Christmas Lights Switch-On at the front of City Hall, on Saturday November 16. Officers at the time said the free tickets for the event went “faster than Oasis.” The overall estimated direct spend for the Christmas Lights Switch-On by the council was £195,585.
A survey for the event showed 52 percent of attendants were from the Belfast City Council area, and a further 40 percent were from elsewhere in Northern Ireland. Four percent were from the Republic of Ireland, two percent were from Great Britain, and two percent were from outside the UK and Ireland.
Eight percent of survey respondents were staying in accommodation away from home.
Two-thirds, (63 percent) said they were supportive of Belfast City Council’s preference to source local talent for stage acts. Under one third (31 percent) would prefer a big-name act.
88 percent thought that events like it encourage people to come to Belfast, while 81 percent of those living in Belfast said that events like it improve their sense of well-being and community. 42 percent (in 2023 the figure was 62 percent) of respondents living outside NI confirmed that the event makes them more likely to visit Belfast again, while 62 percent commented it makes them more likely to recommend friends and family to visit Belfast.
Total building footfall at 2 Royal Avenue for the Winter’s Den between November 16 and December 31 was 49,434. This included an opening weekend footfall of 5,022 people.