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Black Belfast: Cathedral Quarter – Horror and True Crime Walking Tour

Take a walk on the dark side! Join Alternative Ulstours’ ‘Master of the Macabre’ Andrew Johnston on a devilishly informative and shockingly entertaining walking tour of Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter.

Dare you stalk the streets and uncover the grisly secrets of this historic area of the city?

• The day the Albert Clock stopped… dead!

• A ‘bioterrorism’ scare at Belfast’s mail HQ

• Sailortown’s souls that cannot rest

• ‘Spirits’ uncorked at Belfast’s oldest wine merchant

• George and Nora: a love-and-death story

• A harrowing outrage on Little York Street

• Bloody murder in Belfast’s ‘house of ill fame’

• Body snatching in Belfast – a ghoulish business!

• The spectre of Belfast’s music hall ‘Solid Man’

• The Frankenstein Chronicles in the Cathedral Quarter

• Floggings, hangings and beheadings in the centre of town

• Fleeing the flames in the original Belfast Castle

• The forgotten bones beneath Belfast streets

Please note:

• The walking tour starts at the Albert Memorial Clock on Queen’s Square in the Cathedral Quarter in Belfast city centre, where your guide will be waiting for you

• Please arrive 10 minutes before the scheduled start time

• The tour will last three hours and cover around two miles on mainly flat, even ground

• The route is fully accessible, but please inform us in advance of any mobility issues

• The tour ends at St George’s Church on High Street in the Cathedral Quarter in Belfast city centre

• The tour will go ahead in all weathers, so please dress accordingly and stay hydrated

• There are public toilets near the start and end points, and we can make a toilet stop approximately halfway through the tour if required

• There will also be an optional refreshment stop approximately halfway through the tour (refreshments at own cost)

• Well-behaved dogs are welcome on the tour

• Your guide is Level 4-certified and a Visit Belfast industry partner • The tour is fully insured through Tour Guides NI

Very important:
• The tour is open to all ages, but parental guidance is advised due to the graphic nature of some content.

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.

Hit the North 2025

Hit the North Street Art Festival returns to Union Street and Kent Street with some of the world’s finest artists.  Artists this year include – Hera, Taxis, Ajax Piper, My Dog Sighs, Jack Lack, Slim Safont, Jo Caslin,  Jack Lack, Ona Salvador, Philth, Roo, Sky High, Jo Caslin, Asbestos, Danleo, Ed Hicks, Fesa, Friz, Holly Pereia, KVLR, Wee Nuls and loads more.

And don’t forget to check out our fringe programme on the Seedhead Arts website where there’s more workshops, tours, film screenings, lectures and LOADS of parties.

John Higgs: Exterminate / Regenerate: The Story Of Doctor Who

Author John Higgs joins us in conversation about his new book.

On screen, Doctor Who is a story of monsters, imagination and mind-expanding adventure. But the off-screen story is equally extraordinary – a tale of failed monks, war heroes, 1960s polyamory and self-sabotaging broadcasting executives. From the politics of fandom to the inner struggles of the BBC, thousands of people have given part of themselves – and sometimes, too much of themselves – to bring this unlikeliest of folk heroes to life.

This is a story of change, mystery and the importance of imaginary characters in our lives. Able to evolve and adapt more radically than any other fiction, Doctor Who has acted as a mirror to more than six decades of social, technological and cultural change while always remaining a central fixture of the British imagination.

John Higgs is the author of several bestselling books including ‘The KLF’, ‘Live and Let Die: Bond, The Beatles and British Psyche’, ‘Watling Street’ and ‘William Blake v The World’.

‘Absolutely wonderful. The book I’ve been waiting to read since I was ten years old. Full of surprising and piercing insights . . . The first thing I’ve come across that absolutely nails the extraordinary nature of the cultural phenomenon that is Doctor Who’ JEREMY DYSON

 

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

Roisin Lanigan

Róisín Lanigan is an editor and writer based in London and Belfast. Her work has appeared in i-D, VICE, The Atlantic, New Statesman, The Fence and Prospect, amongst other publications. She was longlisted for the Curtis Brown First Novel Prize in 2019, and won the Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award in 2020.

I Want to Go Home But I’m Already There is her first novel.

Renting is a nightmare.

Áine should be feeling happy with her life. She’s just moved in with Elliot. Their new flat is in an affluent neighbourhood, surrounded by bakeries, yoga studios and organic vegetable shops. They even have a garden. And yet, from the moment they move in, Áine can’t shake the sense that there’s something not quite right about the place…

It’s not just the humourless estate agent and nameless landlord: it’s the chill that seeps through the draughty windows; the damp spreading from the cellar door; the way the organic fruit and veg never lasts as long as it should. And most of all, it’s the upstairs neighbours, whose very presence makes peaceful coexistence very difficult indeed.

The longer Áine spends inside the flat – pretending to work from home; dissecting messages from the friends whose lives seem to have moved on without her – the less it feels like home. And as Áine fixates on the cracks in the ceiling, it becomes harder to ignore the cracks in her relationship with Elliott…

Sh!t Theatre: Or What’s Left Of Us

Presented in association with Festival of Fools.

Multi-award-winning ‘magnificent Fringe Legends’ (Time Out) are back. And we’re totally fine! Actually all things considered, we’re ok.

Feeling alright. Thriving, even? That’s a bit far, but we have learnt some folk songs. We’ve got into folk recently and it’s been really helpful. Come and sing some folk songs with us! A swift 60 minutes of classic folk followed by a trip to the bar and then a singaround. Because we need a drink, don’t we? But we’re doing OK.

‘Spine-tingling from the first number’ ★★★★★ Telegraph

‘Few companies make shows that are so consistently, outrageously fun*’ (Guardian). *fun not guaranteed

This show runs at 60 minutes, and is followed by a chance to continue singing* and drinking** together in the performance space. Please join us after the show for the singaround if you would like to.

*singing not obligatory

**drinking not obligatory

Age Recommendation:18+
Running time: 60 minutes

A History of House feat Iain McCready, Dilly, Eamon Beagon + Marty McAllistair

On Bank Holiday weekend, Sunday May 4th, Belfast Underground/CQAF take over the Deers Head Music Hall with the Belfast Legend Iain McCready , one half of the famous Sugar Sweet duo , digging through 30 years of vinyl House Classics for your listening pleasure.

Support comes from Belfast Underground Records Head Honcho Gary “ Dilly “ Dillon , Eamon Beagon & Marty McAllister. Expect to hear Era defining House Tunes from the mid 80s to the present day.

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!

The 4 of Us: Belfast Launch of ‘Crescent Nights’

To celebrate the launch of their acclaimed new album “Crescent Nights”, The 4 Of Us return to CQAF to perform songs from their latest release, as well as familiar classics from an extensive back catalogue.

Hailing from Newry, Northern Ireland, The 4 Of Us has been captivating audiences for over three decades with their soulful melodies and compelling lyrics. With brothers Brendan and Declan Murphy at the helm, The 4 Of Us has left an indelible mark on the Irish music scene.

Their journey began in the late ’80s, and since then, they’ve evolved into one of Ireland’s most beloved and enduring musical acts. Known for their distinctive sound that seamlessly blends rock, folk, and pop influences, The 4 Of Us has produced a string of hits that have become anthems for fans across generations.

‘As well-crafted and evocative as anything they’ve done before’ – The Irish Times

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!

Tinariwen: Summer Tour 2025

Formed in 1979 on the borders of Mali and Algeria, Tinariwen are world renowned as pioneers of the assouf style (“nostalgia” in tamashek). They address Tuareg people’s preoccupations in songs that mix traditional West African and Arab music with blues, folk and other influences.

Tinariwen singlehandedly invented a guitar style that has captured the world’s imagination. They call it ishumar or assouf. The rest of the planet has come to know it as the Tuareg blues. Its music that is imbued with sorrow and longing but it’s also music for forgetting our cares and for dancing. Far more than just a rock band, Tinariwen are ambassadors for their people and a way of life in tune with the natural world that is under threat as never before. Their message has never sounded more urgent and compelling than it does now.

Since gaining international recognition in the early 2000s, they have played more than 1100 shows around the world and released nine studio albums, three of them nominated for a Grammy, including Tassili, which won the award for Best World Music album in 2012.

“To say their music is captivating is underplaying it massively; it pulls you in and takes you on a desert journey, the lilting blues trance and the interplay between guitars and bass, percussion and vocals all creating a sensuous and pleasingly hazy mood.” – Louder Than War

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!

The Courettes

A rock’n’roll sensation from the word go, Danish-Brazilian The Courettes are back with their fourth and best album to date – The Soul Of… The Fabulous Courettes. This time, they’re bigger, wider and deeper than ever before as they add more to the blistering ramalama that’s seen them cause pandemonium across the venues, festivals and airwaves of the UK, Europe, USA and Japan.

Hitting the sweet spot that straddles garage rock, girl groups, doowop harmonies, heartache and all points in between, here The Courettes build on the momentum of predecessor ‘Back In Mono’ with a collection of songs that opens up their sonic scope while confronting dark, emotional matter to reveal ‘The Soul Of The Fabulous Courettes’.

Having evolved with each album release, The Soul Of… The Fabulous Courettes draws inspiration from many of the duo’s numerous idols that have only previously been hinted at. From the glorious opening beats and stabbing fuzz honks of ‘You Woo Me’ to the closing emotional tugs of ‘For Your Love’ via ‘SHAKE!’’s fuzzed-up urgency and ‘California’’s celebratory warmth, The Courettes have broadened their sound with an increased musical instrumentation and overall sophistication that’s evident in both their sound and songwriting.

“The Soul Of… The Fabulous Courettes blends two things,” explains Flavia. “First, of course, are the nods to the soul music and especially Motown, which is pop music the way we like it. But I think for the first time, lyrically, we actually open up to some deeper topics. It’s not disguised as teenage heartache songs anymore.”

For all that, The Soul Of… The Fabulous Courettes is an album aimed as much for what’s below the neck as above it, for this is an album that dances through the darkness to celebrate the joy that is living. “Life is so fragile,” smiles Flavia. “But what are you supposed to do? I’d rather dance.” And what better album to do that to?

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!

Farma G + Quinncidental/Belfast Groove Collective/Chunk Funk/ Miltant Vinylist/Farma’s 5 Word freestyle

We’re delighted to present UK Rap royalty Farma G (Taskforce) presenting acclaimed new album To Kill a Butterfly on High Focus Records.

Joined by an amazing supporting cast of Belfast Groove Collective, Quinncidental, Chunk Funk and Militant Vinylist, the night will also feature a freestyle competition Farma G’s Five Word Freestyle with a £200 cash prize and meal for 2 (Frankie’s Lasagneria).

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