Belfast City Council is investing £5.9 million into Belfast 2024, which builds upon the council’s existing support for culture and arts and invites citizens to get creative, through a mix of new commissions and community-led programmes, all reflecting the city’s diversity and vibrancy. The aim of the programme is to support jobs in the creative sector, create new opportunities for residents to enjoy and participate in the arts, and showcase the city as a global destination for culture, through its three key themes of People, Place and Planet.

‘The Walk’, featuring Little Amal, is one of 20+ major commissions planned during Belfast 2024. A wide range of free activities and workshops have been taking place across Belfast during March and April as part of the Belfast 2024 programme.

Among the other projects underway are The Hearth, a film-making project co-created with the people of Belfast; Wild Belfast, exploring the city’s unique and hidden biodiversity; 9ft in Common, looking at the potential of 202km of local alleyways and Roots, a cross-community production combining gardening and contemporary dance and centred on the city’s peace walls.

For more details of the Belfast 2024 programme, visit belfast2024.co.uk

ArtsEkta is an award-winning cultural organisation that works to develop intercultural relationships at the heart of the community and is home to the Belfast Mela – the largest celebration of cultural diversity on the island of Ireland.

The brainchild of Indian-native Nisha Tandon OBE who is a 2^nd generation migrant to Northern Ireland, ArtsEkta was founded in 2006 on the principles of inclusivity, creativity and openness in all aspects of society – Ekta means ‘uniting’ in the Indian language.

Bringing together communities of Belfast and beyond, they create projects that inspire audiences to engage with the diversity, tastes, rhythms and sights that make up the multicultural life of Northern Ireland.

ArtsEkta is principally supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council and The Executive Office.

Des Kennedy trained with Rough Magic Theatre Company (SEEDS Programme) and on the National Theatre Director’s Course.

He was Associate Director at Out Of Joint between 2010-2012. Des’ credits as director include Good Vibrations at the Lyric Theatre Belfast, Teenage Kicks at the Millennium Forum Derry, White Star Of The North at Lyric Theatre Belfast / Theatre Clwyd Cymru, How The World Began with Out Of Joint at The Arcola Theatre, God’s Country with Tinderbox Theatre Company Belfast, The Prophet Of Monto at The Flea Theatre Off Broadway, Johnny Meister + The Stitch at Mead Theatre Lab Washington D.C, Dying City at Project Arts Centre Dublin and Scenes From The Big Picture at Callan Theatre, Washington D.C.

Currently, Des is working as the Associate Director on the international tour of Harry Potter & The Cursed Child. Des is also a writer and his original script Tribute is in development with Playground Entertainment and his short film The Girl At The Window for the Splendid Isolation series was produced by Lyric Theatre Belfast/BBC Arts NI in 2020.

“We look forward to giving Little Amal a warm welcome to Newry, Mourne and Down as part of her inspirational journey between Belfast and Dublin. Newry, Mourne and Down District Council is delighted to be involved in this all-island initiative and for our residents to have the opportunity to hear Little Amal’s message of hope and empathy. We can’t wait for Little Amal to learn about our diverse community as she shares her story and will be sharing details of how and where to join in with ‘Walk with Amal’ in our district in the coming weeks.” – Councillor Valerie Harte, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson

“Little Amal is a symbol of hope, goodwill and international human rights and we are delighted to show how warm an Irish welcome can be when she visits Dublin city this May.” – Daithí de Róiste, Lord Mayor of Dublin

“Dubliners young, old and in between will be so excited to welcome Little Amal and together we will celebrate Dublin’s unique blend of old and new in our diverse modern capital city” – Ray Yeates, City Arts Officer with Dublin City Council

We are Clíona Dukes + Caoimhe Connolly, female freelance professional Producers + Production Managers.

We are wise, fearless, wild women from the west of Ireland with over 20 years  experience producing and presenting Live Events in the creative sector. We like to work fast and laugh loudly.

We also managed the refurbishment and opening of Smock Alley Theatre in 2012 and spent several years working together building programmes, artist + audience development, accesibility, funding and development, creating new partnships with Dublin City Council, Irish Theatre Institute, Theatre Forum Ireland and the Arts Council. We managed the completion of the build through liaising with contractors, designers and decorators.

We created, implemented and communicated the theatres vision,  mission and strategic place which included a 5 year business place with budgetary targets + timelines designed to grow the  theatre’s offerings and diversify income streams. We also handled the financial management of the company;  budget creation, analysis, tracking & review, accounts payable & receivable, payroll, lodgements, banking, petty cash &  revenue compliancy and were responsible for  private  philanthropists or corporations. The theatre began with a staff of 3 in 2012 and by 2016 had a staff of 34.

In 2016, frustrated on behalf of the artist we were meeting ,and reacting to the lack of opportunities for new work we created Scene + Heard: The Festival of New Work.

The core ethos of Scene + Heard is that Art is supposed to reach and enhance the community it resides in. The festival has an excellent track record of targeting and developing its audience but more than that, it provides a unique opportunity for  audiences to become involved in that process and in doing so secures a future audience for the work within the greater theatre landscape.  ​

Scene + Heard is for those emerging from training and wishing to put on their first show, alongside those more  established artists who want to trial new ideas for audiences to input & feedback on, and artists established mid-career who  would like to move from one art-form or one role to another (actor to director, director-writer, trial of new or multi-disciplinary  art forms). We aim to break down elitist barriers and democratise art. With such a diverse programme this also means that Scene + Heard attracts a very diverse audience which we are  very proud of. The 2020 festival saw a record attendance of 11,270 theatre goers over the 3 weeks. On any given night you will  find people of all ages, genders, and tastes in the theatre experiencing new work. ​

Scene + Heard presents over 100 new works over 3 weeks. Once programmed the artists receive one to one mentorship where  the Directors assist them in determining the long term vision for their work and putting in place the steps required to achieve  that. We also run a series of support and network events alongside the festival with our Partners in Theatre Forum, Irish Theatre  Institute, Creative Ireland, Arts Council, and 15 venues and festivals through out the country.

With over 50 volunteers and six full-time staff, the NWMF is the leading anti-racism charity in the North West. Established in 2012, the Forum is a medium-size, high-impact organisation deploying complementary expertise and methodologies. The organisation brings proven expertise in grassroots campaigning as well as broader lived experience, rooted in being an umbrella forum led by the community’s needs.

An Táin Arts Centre is an independent arts space in Dundalk, Co. Louth. We are a venue with two theatres, a gallery, artist studios, a production house, a meeting point for creatives, a supporter of artists and a home for the arts in Dundalk.

Situated along Ireland’s Ancient East, Dundalk has a rich cultural heritage that dates to at least 3500 BC. An Táin Arts Centre derives its name from the Táin Bó Cúailnge or the Cattle raid of Cooley, a legendary story from early Irish literature, which is said to have taken place in the nearby Cooley Peninsula.

Supported by Louth County Council and The Arts Council, An Táin Arts Centre houses a 350 seat main theatre, a 55 seat studio theatre, a visual arts gallery, two workshop spaces and supports Bó Studios a new artist studio in the heart of Dundalk. Our programme is a diverse collection of local arts, national tours, workshops, exhibitions and in-house productions.

Belfast Cathedral, known locally as St Anne’s, is a Cathedral of the Church of Ireland, part of the Anglican Communion (Episcopalian). It is unusual in serving two separate dioceses, Connor and Down & Dromore, and so has not one, but two, Bishop’s Seats.

Branar is one of Ireland’s leading theatre companies making work for children. Based in the West of Ireland, Branar are renowned for creating highly imaginative and beautiful work.

Established in 2001, Branar has created over 20 shows in that time. It works closely with an ensemble of exceptional artists and collaboratively with a number of creative partners, including The Ark, Baboró, NIE (England), Starcatchers (Scotland), Teater Refleksion (Denmark) and many leading Irish arts centres and festivals.

The company tours nationally and internationally, bringing its work with equal enthusiasm to leading arts venues such as the South Bank Centre, London as to a local school in Galway. Branar is committed to reaching its audience, wherever they are.

In a crowded field of outstanding Irish fiddle players and interpreters of traditional music Colm Mac Con Iomaire is unique. His voice is unmistakably his own and his music bears distinctive creative hallmarks which have as much to do with his personality and character as with his impressive technical mastery, musical authority and exquisitely expressive playing.

Jiggy continue the tradition of their musical ancestors while bringing a whole new exotic flavour to the table, more of a collective than an orthodox band, Jiggy’s mercurial line up mixes and melds Irish traditional music, world rhythms and cutting-edge dance grooves. Jiggy took the internet by storm with their video ‘Silent Place’ celebrating the global togetherness of dance and to date it has clocked up more than 35 million views. This has introduced the band to a brand new audience worldwide and their debut album TRANSLATE went to number 1 in the world music charts in Ireland, United States, Canada, France, Australia, Poland & UK and they are now a big hit with festival audiences across the globe.

Junk Ensemble was founded by twin sisters and Artistic Directors Megan Kennedy and Jessica Kennedy. Based in Dublin, the company exists to engage diverse audiences through the creation and presentation of brave, imaginative and accessible dance-theatre work that sheds light on important human issues relevant to society today. Previous Artists-in-Residence at The Tate and Firkin Crane Cork, the multi-award winning company have built a reputation in Ireland as dance innovators. Junk Ensemble frequently collaborate with artists from other disciplines to produce a rich mix of visual and performance styles that challenge the traditional audience/performer relationship. This approach has led to productions being created in non-traditional or found spaces as well as more conventional theatre spaces. The company often work directly with communities in the creation and performance of their work. Their work has toured to New York, Europe, and throughout the UK and Ireland. Junk Ensemble are current Project Artists at Project Arts Centre, Dublin.

Productions include The Cold Sings, Dances Like a Bomb, Crossing Skin, The Misunderstanding of Myrrha, The Veiled Ones, A Different Wolf, The Bystander, Man At The Door, Dolores, Soldier Still, Walking Pale, It Folds (a joint production with Brokentalkers), Dusk Ahead, The Falling Song, Bird with Boy, Sometimes We Break, Five Ways to Drown, Drinking Dust, The Rain Party. Short films include In Velvet, Fallow Table, Blind Runner.

The New Brass Kings are 6 professional messers from Dublin, Ireland who came together 6 years ago out of a love/hate relationship with brass, and music, and each other.

Often found busking in the centre of the city, they’re no strangers to festivals, parties, corporate functions, weddings, you name it.

Thanks to the acoustic nature of the band and their mobility they’re easily the most versatile band in the entire world.

Their setlist is comprised of the best songs you’ve ever heard, but played better, on brass.

tonnta is a performance company and vocal ensemble dedicated to new music.

led by vocalist and composer robbie blake, tonnta champions the interdisciplinary creation and performance of music.

tonnta‘s sound is vibrant and dynamic – the work references the worlds of live art, contemporary dance and theatre while being rooted in sound.

tonnta believes in creating experiences for all, and where possible ensures all events are accessible to those with reduced mobility, wheelchair users and are delivered in a relaxed-performance style. If you have any concerns about upcoming events, please get in touch with us to discuss your needs.

tonnta prioritises performances and events that are invigorating, boundary-pushing and accessible for all.