Historic Pubs of the Cathedral Quarter

Take a leisurely stroll on a Sunday afternoon to find out a little more about some of the historic pubs of the Cathedral Quarter and Belfast city centre.

Each pub, from Kelly’s Cellars to the Dirty Onion, The Duke of York to White’s Tavern, and The Morning Star to McHugh’s has fascinating tales and links to our city’s history that will be teased out. You’ll learn why several establishments claim the city’s ‘oldest pub’ title, which of them is in fact the oldest tavern, and what precisely the ‘oldest’ claims of some of the others relate to!

Exploring the oldest part of Belfast town before it became a city in 1888, you’ll hear about early merchants and importers, where secret societies met, the pick-up points for mail coaches, old jails, former whiskey warehouses, newspapers of long ago, and more.

The tour will start from outside Kelly’s Cellars at 2.00pm. The tour will end at 3.30pm outside McHugh’s, where you may choose to stay on to enjoy a drink or coffee and perhaps an afternoon traditional music session.

The tour will cover up to 1.5 miles and will take place whatever the weather, so please come prepared. No refreshments are included as part of the tour ticket.

The tour has been developed and was delivered by Dolores Vischer, a Green Badge qualified tour guide, through her company Creative Tours Belfast.

Owen O’Neill: Hold Yer Tongue

Hold Yer Tongue is an engaging hybrid of poetry and storytelling. O’Neill is an award winning writer and performer who has won two  Fringe firsts at the Edinburgh Festival. He won Best actor Off Broadway for his portrayal of Nathan Cassidy in his one man play Absolution which also won The New York critics award for best play.

He has published three volumes of poetry, written plays for the stage and screen. His novel TOM JOAD AND ME was published in June 2024. ‘A carnivalesque, rockabilly narrative with a profoundly moving conclusion.’ said Patrick McCabe

He adapted the Shawshank Redemption for the stage and it is currently on a UK tour of Britain and North America.

‘O’Neill’s poems and stories are both poignant and hilarious. The highlight of the festival.’ – Culture Northern Ireland. 

‘O’Neill’s poems are like an emotional ambush’ – Toronto Sun 

‘I was simultaneously completely helpless with laughter and moved to tears.’ – The Scotsman

Rachel Sermanni

Rachel Sermanni is a Scottish based singer/songwriter that makes the mundane moments mystical: shock-positive pregnancy tests in train-station toilets, coffee machine breakages, cold river swims, the regret of not saying ‘I love You’, the moon & how it pulls, bare feet on wood floors, the soft glow of a house plant, ‘what even is consciousness?’, strange dreams lingering in quiet mornings…

She brims with dreamy indie-folk pop that speaks of the struggle and desire to Flow, to love, to live, to feel. Sometimes, her songs speak of the rare moments of quiet-still, found in the midst of this struggle & desire.

Rachel’s most recent offering is her 4th studio album : Dreamer Awake. An in depth assortment of playful and candid vignettes, peeping into life: after birth, after separation and in the wake of recognising the internalised conditionings of patriarchy. She seeks to be honest with herself and her environment. She seeks to express from this raw place. She seeks to speak from the descent, the plateaus, the dream-catchings and contemplations of womanhood.

There are no conclusions to be drawn. It is a call to arms, of sorts, to wake up and dream the future, to dismiss the external for a minute and tend to the inner landscape of heart and mind. To not be distracted. To focus on the light and the shadow in equal measure.

Since the release of Dreamer Awake, Rachel has become a mother for the second time and continues to explore this experience while offering her songs and also her insights into creativity.

This show is strictly for audiences aged 18 and over.

If you have access needs, feel free to email Aoife at aoife@cqaf.com for more info—we’re happy to help!

Roll Bus Roll: A Jeffrey Lewis Documentary

Roll Bus Roll spotlights the life and art of Jeffrey Lewis, one of the most prominent musicians associated with New York City’s anti-folk scene.

It opens with an exploration of anti-folk, offering a look at a unique movement that challenges traditional folk conventions. We meet Lewis, a self-deprecating genius, on tour across cities and continents, and come to see him via contrasting narratives: his own modest self-assessment, and the views of fans and fellow artists such as Adam Green.

The film reaches its emotional climax as he talks about lost love, revealing the impact of his mental health struggles on the relationship.

Dir. Ilya Popenko, US, 2024, 73 mins

 

Lael Neale

Lael Neale’s minimalist drone pop draws inspiration from the Transcendentalists, the high lonesome sound of primitive American gospel music & the alienation of modern life. Since signing with Sub Pop in 2020, she has split her time between rural Virginia and Los Angeles in addition to extensive touring throughout Europe and select shows in the U.S.

In collaboration with producer and accompanist Guy Blakeslee, Neale has created two internationally acclaimed home-recorded albums. They have recently completed a third which is slated for release in 2025.

“A unique, boldly weird proposition, and one that proudly carries the faint hint of tractor grease. Half of it comes on like cult 70s folk artist Karen Dalton hanging out with the Velvet Underground and Suicide, while the rest offers somewhat more modern balladry, placing her more in the world of Angel Olsen and Cat Power.” – THE GUARDIAN

“Neale is imaginative, but she’s steeped in songwriting craft and she knows her way round a whopping chorus.”★★★★ – MOJO

“The simplicity is part of what makes her record so beautiful; just her voice, her words, her electric guitar, and her omnichord are enough to put the listener in a trance.” – SPIN

“She’s managed to infuse a very done old female singer-songwriter, emotive approach with fresh abandon. She abandons a lot of the traditional instrumentation and doesn’t often bother with a beat and just kind of lets the whole feeling of the thing go into a place that suddenly doesn’t sound like it’s of the industry. And I like her record.” – Iggy Pop (BBC Radio)

This show is strictly for audiences aged 18 and over.

If you have access needs, feel free to email Aoife at aoife@cqaf.com for more info—we’re happy to help!

Bernard Butler

Bernard Butler is a Brit and Grammy Award winning musician. In 1989 he formed Suede releasing the Mercury winning debut Suede. The era-defining Dog Man Star was followed by his collaboration with David McAlmont on the anthem ”Yes”.

Two solo albums on Creation yielded a Brit nomination before  producing seminal releases by The Libertines, Tricky, Black Kids, Kate Nash, James Morrison, Texas, Mark Eitzel, Paloma Faith and Duffy – spawning her Grammy and Brit Award winning debut Rockferry.

He has played guitar for Pet Shop Boys, Bryan Ferry, Roy Orbison, Bert Jansch, The Libertines, Neneh Cherry, Robert Plant and Ben Watt. Butler is Patron to the Bert Jansch Foundation and Generator NE and lectures in songwriting for the Abbey Road Institute.

In 2022 a  collaboration with Jessie Buckley “For All Our Days That Tear The Heart” resulted in the shortlist to the 2022 Mercury Prize. Currently he has completed albums by Sam Lee, The Clockworks and a new solo album a solo album for 2024 release.

This show is strictly for audiences aged 18 and over.

If you have access needs, feel free to email Aoife at aoife@cqaf.com for more info—we’re happy to help!

King Creosote

A quarter of a century since his self-inflicted coronation, and self-released debut solo album,  Kenny Anderson – DIY pop voyager, ancestral seaside home restorer, Fife for lifer, diamond miner, hijacker of hearts, and the man also known as King Creosote – has released over 100 records,  collaborated with the likes of Jon Hopkins, KT Tunstall, Beta Band’s Lone Pigeon, and had his songs covered and performed by artists including Patti Smith and Simple Minds.

A note from Kenny –

2024’s springtime tour “Any Port in a Storm”- a mix of modular synth, I DES tracks and KC ‘classics’ was such a success that we are delighted to announce 2025’s follow up “Any Storm in a Teacup” from April-June. 

This show is strictly for audiences aged 18 and over.

If you have access needs, feel free to email Aoife at aoife@cqaf.com for more info—we’re happy to help!

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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
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Northern Whig House
Bridge Street
Belfast
BT1 1LU