Belfast Festival at Queen's

The Belfast Festival at Queen's is an annual arts festival held in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

History

Held annually, usually in November, the festival is primarily run by Queen's University Belfast. Founded by a student called Michael Emmerson in the 1960s, as of 2008 the festival is in its 46th year. Stella Hall, head of Culture and Arts at the university, was the former festival director and was succeeded by Michael Poynor in 2005. The current (2008) Festival Director is Graeme Farrow.

From small beginnings the festival grew through the 1960s and 1970s, expanding to a two week long event. Performers during this time included Jimi Hendrix, Laurence Olivier, Rowan Atkinson and Billy Connolly.

The festival is held at several venues across the city, including the Mandela Hall, the Naughton Gallery, the QFT and the Whitla Hall at Queen's, as well as the Grand Opera House, the Waterfront Hall and the Cultúrlann centre.

2005 festival

In recent years the festival has expanded further and now claims to be the largest arts festival in Ireland, showcasing local talent as well as international artists. The 2005 festival took place between 21 October and 6 November, and covered theatre, politics, dance, classical music, literature, jazz, comedy, visual arts, folk music and popular music. Guests included Harry Hill, Joanne Harris, George Galloway, Robert Fisk, Louis Theroux, Grandmaster Flash, Rich Hall, and theatre productions of Romeo and Juliet and A Clockwork Orange. BBC Northern Ireland provided comprehensive radio and television coverage of the Festival, principally through "Festival Nights" on BBC2, presented by William Crawley.

2006 festival

The 2006 festival programme was launched on 7 September 2006 at Queen's Film Theatre. The 44th festival ran from October 19 to November 4. Performances included Jose Cura, a celebrated musical theatre company from South Africa and the world music 'kings' of "rumba flamenca". Speaking at the Waterfront Hall launch, 2006 festival director Graeme Farrow said:

Belfast Festival at Queen's aims to refresh the parts that other events throughout the year can't reach and we are confident that the 2006 festival programme - further details of which will be released in the coming months - will set a high benchmark for years to come.

2007 festival

The 2007 festival ran from 19 October to 3 November 2007. Acts included The Blind Boys of Alabama, John Prine, Bill Bailey, Sean Hughes, Ute Lemper, Andreas Scholl and a performance of Brian Irvine's "The Tailor's Daughter".

Funding crisis

In January 2007, sufficient funding was not in place to ensure that the 2007 festival would go ahead, and the university launched a 'Save Belfast Festival' campaign, encouraging people to petition Maria Eagle MP, then minister responsible for cultural activities in Northern Ireland. [Patrick Clarke, [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/letters/article2155092.ece Letters: Join campaign to help save Belfast Festival] , "Belfast Telegraph", 15 January 2007, accessed 16 January 2007] The campaign received support from the Belfast Telegraph and celebrities including Patrick Kielty. [ [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/theatre-arts/article2166735.ece Star Kielty stands up for festival] , "Belfast Telegraph", 19 January 2007, accessed 3 March 2007] On 16 February 2007 the Minister announced a £150,000 one-off payment to the Belfast Festival at Queen's, although the campaign to raise more funds continued throughout the year. [ [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2287512.ece Festival remaining on life support] , "Belfast Telegraph", 19 January 2007, accessed 3 March 2007] The university subsequently announced that the 2007 festival would go ahead, albeit on a reduced scale, but that work is still required to secure its long-term future. [ [http://www.qub.ac.uk/home/savebelfastfestival/pressreleases/march2007.html Belfast Festival at Queen's to continue at least in 2007] , Queen's University Belfast press release, 6 March 2007, accessed 10 March 2007] On 18 December 2007, Arts Minister, Edwin Poots, announced a grant of £300,000 over three years for the Belfast Festival at Queen'scite news | first=Matthew | last=McCreary | title=Festival future looks bright with £1m deal | work=The Belfast Telegraph | page= 3 | date=2008-02-08 ] .

ponsorship

On 8 February 2008, Ulster Bank Group Chief Executive, Cormac McCarthy, announced a three-year sponsorship deal worth over £1m for the Belfast Festival at Queen's. It was hailed as a "new dawn" for the festival which had been suffering underfunding [cite news | first=Matthew | last=McCreary | title=£1m ’new dawn’ deal for Queen’s Festival | | work=The Belfast Telegraph | page= 1 | date=2008-02-08 ] .

ee also

*Belfast Film Festival
*Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival
*Queen's Film Theatre

References

External links

* [http://www.belfastfestival.com Official Website]
* [http://www.qub.ac.uk/home/savebelfastfestival Save Belfast Festival]