Mary Dillon, Dónal O’Connor & Neil Martin
The Black Box
Friday 9 January, 8.00pm
John Prine’s German Afternoons: Presented by All the Best
The Black Box
Saturday 10 January, 2.00pm & 8.00pm
In association with The Duncairn & First Fortnight
Therapy Sessions Belfast
The Duncairn
Saturday 10 January, 8.00pm
Historic Pubs of the Cathedral Quarter
Leaves Kellys Cellars
Sunday 11 and Sunday 25 January, 2.00pm
Hiraeth: Yearning for Home? With Michael Smiley and Miranda Sawyer
The Black Box
Sunday 11 January, 2.00pm
Keith James: The Songs of Nick Drake
The Black Box
Sunday 11 January, 8.00pm
Work is the Curse of the Drinking Classes
The Black Box
Tuesday 13 January, 1.00pm and 8.00pm
Simply Streisand
The Black Box
Wednesday 14 January, 1.00pm, Thursday 15 January, 1.00pm
‘A Little Cloud’ and ‘Counterparts’ from Joyce’s Dubliners
The Black Box
Wednesday 14 January, 8.00pm
Michael Palin in Conversation
The Whitla Hall
Wednesday 14 January, 8.00pm
Hal Cruttenden: Can Dish It Out But Can’t Take It
The Black Box
Thursday 15 January, 8.00pm
Naima Bock
The Deer’s Head
Thursday 15 January, 8.00pm
Céilí for Lunch
The Black Box
Friday 16 January, 1.00pm
Clifton Street Cemetery Tour
Leaves Clifton House
Friday 16 January & Friday 23 January, 2.00pm
The Hans Zimmer Experience
The Black Box
Friday 16 January, 8.00pm
Quire at Out to Lunch
The Black Box
Saturday 17 January, 2.00pm
Glimpse
Circusful, 23-25 Gordon St, Belfast BT1 2LG
Saturday 17 January, 7.30pm
Luka Bloom
The Black Box
Saturday 17 January, 8.00pm
Greg Wilson
The Deer’s Head
Saturday 17 January, 9.00pm
Arts Across Belfast Bus Tour
Leaves from the MAC foyer, 10 Exchange St, West, Belfast BT1 2NJ
Sunday 18 January, 10.25am - 2.30pm
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) on VHS
The Sunflower
Sunday 18 January, 4.00pm
In association with the Harrison Hotel
Out To Lunch with Vincent Price
The Harrison Hotel
Sunday 18 January, 7.00pm
Rosie Wilby: The Breakup Monologues Live Podcast
The Black Box
Sunday 18 January, 8.00pm
Ulster Orchestra at Out to Lunch: Mendelssohn and More!
The Black Box
Tuesday 20 January, 1.00pm & 7.30pm
Grant-Lee Phillips
The Deer’s Head
Tuesday 20 January, 8.00pm
Women in Black
The Black Box
Wednesday 21 January, 1.00pm
Tex9: Money
The Black Box
Wednesday 21 January, 7.30pm
Rachel Parris ‘Introducing Mrs Collins’
The Black Box
Thursday 22 January, 1.00pm
Lemoncello
The Black Box
Thursday 22 January, 8.00pm
Los Dramaticos
The Black Box
Friday 23 January, 1.00pm
Celtic Utopia (Utoipe Cheilteach)
The Deer’s Head
Thursday 22 January, 8.00pm
In association with Music Capital
Red Sky July
Oh Yeah Centre
Friday 23 January, 7.30pm
Robin Ince: The Universe and the Neurodiverse
The Black Box
Friday 23 January, 8.00pm
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
The Black Box
Saturday 24 January, 8.00pm
John R Miller
The Deer’s Head
Saturday 24 January, 8.00pm
Celebrating 50 Years of Bob Dylan’s Desire
The Oh Yeah Centre
Saturday 24 January, 8.00pm
Superfly Funk and Soul & CQAF present
Don Letts DJ Set + Explosion Sound System Selectors
Ulster Sports Club
Saturday 24 January, 10.30pm
I Dreamed I Dream
Ulster Sports Club
Saturday 24 January, 8.00pm
The Darkling Air with special guests Arco String Quartet
The Black Box
Sunday 25 January, 2.00pm
Katherine Priddy
The Black Box
Sunday 25 January, 8.00pm
Caroline McEvoy: Train Man
The Deer’s Head
Sunday 25 January, 8.00pm
NI Opera presents ‘Cabaret for Lunch’ & ‘Evening Cabaret’
The Black Box
Tuesday 27 January, 1.00pm and 7.30pm
Supported by Ulster Presents
Menolicious authors Mariella Frostrup and Belles Berry in Conversation
McCracken Building (Lecture Theatre 1), Ulster University
Tuesday 27th January 2026, 7.00pm
Classic Country for Lunch featuring The Boondocks
The Black Box
Wednesday 28 January, 1.00pm
Belfast and The Age of The Enlightenment
Clifton House
Wednesday 28 January, 7.00pm
Connor Burns – Gallus
The Black Box
Wednesday 28 January, 8.00pm
Amythyst Kiah
The Oh Yeah Centre
Wednesday 28 January, 8.00pm
Wookalily
The Black Box
Thursday 29 January, 1.00pm
Dani Larkin: ‘next of kin’ Listening Party
Oh Yeah Centre
Thursday 29 January, 7.00pm
Zadie Smith in Conversation
The Mac
Thursday 29 January, 7.45pm
‘Political Girl – Life and Fate in Russia’ Maria Alyokhina
The Black Box
Thursday 29 January, 8.00pm
Bluegrass for Lunch feat. Broken String Band
The Black Box
Friday 30 January, 1.00pm
Yann Tiersen
The Black Box
Friday 30 January, 8.00pm
Deloyd Elze
The Deer’s Head
Friday 30 January, 8.00pm
Einaudi for Lunch featuring Ruth McGinley
The Black Box
Saturday 31 January, 2.00pm & 8.00pm
20 Years of Crilli DNB feat Calibre/SP:MC/Crilli Residents/PMCC/Rory Rudimentry
Ulster Sports Club
Saturday 31 January, 10.00pm
Rolling Programme
The Handsome Family – Far From Any Road Tour
The Empire Music Hall
Thursday 14 May, 8.00pm
In association with the Real Music Club
Teddy Thompson: Never Be The Same Tour
The Black Box
Thursday 4 June, 8.00pm
Harry Baker: Tender
Mandela Hall
Friday 24 July, 8.00pm
Laura Veirs + special guest Karl Blau
The Black Box
Thursday 24 September, 8.00pm
In association with The Real Music Club
James McMurtry with Special Guest Betty Soo
Rosemary Street Church
Thursday 1 October, 8.00pm
Harry Baker and Hollie McNish
The Whitla Hall
Wednesday 11 November, 7.30pm
CQAF 2026 Early-bird Shows
Robert Finley: CQAF Opening Concert
The Empire Music Hall
Wednesday 29 April, 8.00pm
Belfast: A Phenomenal Music City (Walking Tour)
Leaves 2 Royal Avenue
Thursday 30 April & Friday 1 May, 6.00pm - 7.30pm
Louis Theroux In Conversation
Assembly Buildings Conference Centre, 2-10 Fisherwick Place, Belfast, BT1 6DW
Thursday 30th April, 8.00pm
The Unthanks
Empire Music Hall
Thursday 30 April, 8.00pm
Bad Bridget, with Leanne McCormick and Elaine Farrell
The Black Box
Thursday 30 April, 1.00pm
The Stray Gaiters: The Music of Neil Young
The Black Box
Thursday 30 April, 8.00pm
Carsie Blanton + Special Guests The Burning Hell
The Duncairn
Thursday 30 April, 8.00pm
Presented by Moving on Music and Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival
Laraaji
The MAC
Thursday 30 April, 8.00pm
Inaekkum
Ulster Sports Club
Thursday April 30, 8.00pm
North Block Night Market
Crumlin Road Gaol
Friday 1 May, 7.00pm – 11.00pm
BIFF to the Future
The MAC, Downstairs
Friday 1 May, 7.45pm
Landless at Carlisle Memorial Church
Carlisle Memorial Church - Belfast BT14 6AT
Friday 1 May, 8.00pm
Madra Salach
The Black Box
Friday 1 May, 8.00pm
Belle Chen
The Deer’s Head
Friday 1 May, 8.00pm
Presented by Strange Victory and CQAF
Max Cooper – 3D/AV Live
Mandela Hall
Friday 1 May, 8.00pm
Oh Yeah and CQAF present
30 Years of Fugees The Score
Oh Yeah Centre
Friday 1 May, 8.00pm
Ani Glass and special guests IMLÉ | agus aíonna speisialta IMLÉ
Áras Mhic Reachtain
Aoine 1 Bealtaine | Friday 1 May, 8:30pm
Mary Ann, The Forgotten Sister: a theatrical walking tour
Leaves Clifton Cemetery, Henry St
Various times, Saturday 2 May - Sunday 17 May
Hidden Belfast
Leaves Rosemary St Church
Saturday 2 and 9 May & Sunday 3 and 10 May, 11.00am
Troubled
The MAC Upstairs
Saturday 2 May, 1.00pm & 8.00pm
Seamus Fogarty
The Sunflower Public House
Saturday 2 May, 3.00pm
In association with the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's
Derek Mahon – A Celebration with Stephen Rea, Katy Mahon and more
Carlisle Memorial Church
Saturday 2 May, 6.00pm
In association with The Duncairn
Cerys Hafana
The Duncairn
Saturday 2 May, 7.30pm
Rob Newman: Where the Wild Things Were
The Black Box
Saturday 2 May, 8.00pm
Willi Carlisle
The Deer’s Head
Saturday 2 May, 8.00pm
Death in Vegas
Mandela Hall
Saturday 2 May, 8.00pm
Kate Rusby
St Anne's Cathedral
Saturday 2 May, 8.00pm
Theatre
Ulster Sports Club
Saturday 2 May, 8.00pm
‘Traces of A Traumatic Future’ : Frédéric Huska
Golden Thread Gallery - Lower Gallery
Saturday 2 May, 1.00pm
‘Disposal of Fullness’ Sharon Kelly
Golden Thread - Upper Gallery
Saturday 2 May, 1.00pm
Dawn Richardson & Chad Alexander: Dungannon Tropicana
The Mac, Belfast
30 Apr 2026 - 5 Jul 2026
Bbeyond new commission artist Elaine McGinn
Exchange Place, Belfast. BT1 2NA
Friday 2 May, 2.00pm
In collaboration with Oh Yeah Music Centre and Salah Soundsystem
Soundsystem Sundays
Oh Yeah Music Centre
Sunday 3 May, 2.00pm - 7.00pm
Rob Newman: ‘Intelligence ‘ Book Talk and In Conversation
The Black Box
Sunday 3 May, 2.00pm
Hit the North
Union St./Kent St.
Sunday 3 May, 2.00pm – 6.00pm
Sam Blythe: Method in My Madness (A One-Man Hamlet)
The Mac (Upstairs)
Sunday 3 May, 7.00pm
CQAF In association with Strange Victory
Punk Rock Ruined My Life: And Other Stories – John Robb
The Sunflower
Sunday 3 May, 7.30pm
Piaf Revisited: Christine Bovill
The Black Box
Sunday 3 May, 8.00pm
Beth Orton
Carlisle Memorial Church
Sunday 3 May, 8.00pm
Battlefield Earth
Ulster Sports Club, ( Lounge)
Sunday 3 May, 8.00pm
Darragh McLoughlin/Squarehead Productions
The Whistle II
The Mac ( Upstairs)
Monday 4 May, 1.30pm and 3.45pm
Susannah Dickey ‘Into the Wreck’
The Deer’s Head
Monday 4 May, 7.00pm
Women in Black
The Black Box
Monday 4 May, 8.00pm
Dance Freak
Ulster Sports Club (downstairs lounge)
Monday 4 May, 8.00pm
Transience: The Pedro Donald Collection
The John Hewitt Bar and The Black Box Green Room
On view from 30 April to 30 May
Presented by Ulster Presents and CQAF
Philip Hoare – William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love
Ulster University - Lecture Theatre 2
Tuesday 5 May, 7.00pm
Sorella Theatre in conjuction with McConnell's Distillery
The Turbulent Tale of Typhoid Mary, by Brenda Winter Palmer
McConnell's Distillery at Crumlin Road Gaol
Tuesday 5 May & Wednesday 6 May, 7.45pm (Doors open 6.00pm | Bar open after show)
Seón Simpson’s on a Tangent
The Black Box
Tuesday 5 May, 8.00pm
London African Gospel Choir Celebrate 40 Years of Paul Simon’s Graceland
Mandela Hall
Tuesday 5 May, 8.00pm
Ailbhe Reddy
The Deer’s Head
Tuesday 5 May, 8.00pm
Kwok Tsui: Many Moons Ago
The Mac, Belfast
30 Apr 2026 - 5 Jul 2026
Colin Graham: ‘Sensation’ and ‘I am the Border, so I am’
Seamus Heaney Centre, QUB
Wednesday 6 May, 6.00pm
CQAF and the Lonesome Dove Cinema Club presents:
Great Silence
Beanbag Cinema (5 Exchange Place, Belfast BT1 2NA)
Wednesday 6 May, 7.00pm
Don’t Tell Dad About Diana
Upstairs in the MAC
Wednesday 6 May, 8.00pm
Junior Brother
Ulster Sports Club
Wednesday 6 May, Thursday 7 May, 8.00pm
Tiff Stevenson – Post-Coital
The Black Box
Wednesday 6 May, 8.00pm
David Keenan
The Black Box
Thursday 7 May, 8.00pm
In association with Old Flattop
Guy Davis
The Crescent Arts Centre
Thursday 7 May, 8.00pm
Cloth
The Deer’s Head
Thursday 7 May, 8.00pm
Prestige Drama by Séamas O’Reilly
Seamus Heaney Centre
Friday 8 May, 6.00pm
Moon Songs: The Phoebe Bridgers Project/Amhráin na Gealaí: Tionscadal Phoebe Bridgers
Áras Mhic Reachtain
Aoine 8 Bealtaine | Friday 8 May, 8:00pm
A Certain Ratio
The Black Box
Friday 8th May, 8.00pm
Glasshouse perform Sigur Rós
The Mac ( Downstairs)
Friday 8 May, 8.00pm
Right On Promotions Present
The Steve White Trio
The Deer’s Head
Friday 8 May, 8.00pm
Oh Yeah Music Centre and CQAF presents
da Googie + Cara Tivey present The Golden Thread
The Oh Yeah Centre
Friday 8 May, 8.00pm
Bronagh Gallagher
Ulster Sports Club
Friday 8 May, 8.00pm
The Foreign Landers
The Sunflower Bar
Saturday 9 May, 2.00pm
Hannah Casey-Brogan : Iarmhaireacht
Ulster University Art gallery, Belfast campus, Ground Floor, Block BC, 2-24 York Street, Belfast, BT151AP
30.04.26 – 29.05.26
Claire Keegan in Conversation
The MAC
Saturday 9 May, 7.45pm
Craig Charles
Mandela Hall
Saturday 9 May, 8.00pm
Jerron Paxton
The Black Box
Saturday 9 May, 8.00pm
Dead Goat: Album Launch
The Black Box
Sunday 10 May, 2.00pm
Earth to Alice: Escape Artist (Alice McCullough Work in Progress)
The Dark Horse
Sunday 10 May, 2.00pm, 5.00pm, 8.00pm
Alana Henderson
The Deer’s Head
Sunday 10 May, 2.00pm
Henry Normal & Jan Brierton
The Crescent Arts Centre
Sunday 10 May, 3.00pm
A Mighty Wind
The Sunflower
Sunday 10 May, 7.00 pm
Martin Simpson presents…A Celebration of Dick Gaughan
The Black Box
Sunday 10 May, 8.00pm
2026 Artist in Residence – Eve Belle
BIEN (British? Irish? Either? Neither?)
Belfast Exposed
30 April -30 May
Golden Ticket 2026
Recommended for hardcore festival-goers only
Supported By
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The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and Out To Lunch are annual festivals of music, comedy, theatre, art and literature which take place in January and May in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival / Out To Lunch Arts Festival
Unit 8
Northern Whig House
Bridge Street
Belfast
BT1 1LU