The Shape of a Square celebrates Irish / US connections, marking the 90th Birthday of one of the world’s most significant composers, Philip Glass.

Within this atmospheric programme we explore his solo and chamber works, and his influence on younger generations, such as Irish composer Dave Flynn celebrating his 50th year.

Acclaimed by the New York Times for the “power and grittiness” of his music, Dave Flynn draws on minimalism, jazz, Irish traditional music and a kaleidoscopic range of other influences, and has been critically praised in the Boston Globe, Washington Post and The Times (UK).

This 2025/26 season has been extremely busy for Hard Rain, including events in London’s Southbank Centre, Warsaw Autumn Festival, a Chilean concert tour as well as multiple events closer to home including New Music Dublin, Belfast International Arts Festival, Sonorities Festival, Young at Art and Sound of Belfast.

Dara Dubh (Pronounced da-ra doo)  is an Irish indie–folk–rock artist whose songs sit somewhere between heartfelt confession and a good kick up the road.

A singer-songwriter and harpist with a habit of blending the delicate with the downright fierce, she brings a sharp emotional edge to a sound shaped by folk roots, alternative influences, and whatever else has been rattling around her head that week.

With the harp as her trusted companion, Dubh challenges the idea of an instrument often associated with traditional music. The harp has found new life in Dara’s hands as she pushes the boundaries of its capabilities, and a voice that can shift from whisper-soft to unapologetically powerful without warning.

A SAMA Best Newcomer nominee and one of The List’s Hot 100 (No. 57), Dara has taken her live show across the UK and Italy, collecting a run of sold-out nights in Scotland, Ireland, and Italy along the way.

Her 2024 EP opened the door to a wider audience, followed by a collaborative EP in 2025 that pushed her sound into new territory. She’s currently working away—quietly but determinedly—on her debut album, set for 2026.

With a sound that refuses to sit neatly in any one box, Dara Dubh continues to carve out her own corner of a genre-defying landscape, one unhurried but unforgettable song at a time.

Kefaya & Elaha Soroor are an award-winning collective blending Afghan folk traditions with jazz, electronics, and psychedelic rock to create a powerful synthesis of cultures, voices, and rhythms. Their music transcends borders, and genres, offering a raw testament to resistance, unity, and internationalism.

Formed by London-based musicians and producers Giuliano Modarelli, Ali MacSween, and Joost Hendrickx, Kefaya unites a shared creative vision and political commitment with a musical language shaped through close collaboration with artists from diverse cultural traditions.

From the start, the project has explored themes of social justice and been inspired by revolutionary music and traditional songs of resistance. Their debut album Radio International centred on immigration and internationalism, winning the Best Newcomer Award at the Songlines Music Awards in 2017 and establishing the band’s direction both musically and politically.

The collaboration with Hazara singer and activist Elaha Soroor brought traditional folk forms from Afghanistan into dialogue with contemporary aesthetics and jazz, amplifying stories of exile, oppression and survival while refusing to separate artistic expression from political reality.

Elaha Soroor first rose to prominence on tv performing on Afghan Star and Stage, becoming the first female Hazara singer to perform on Afghan and Iranian TV. Her work challenges patriarchy and authoritarianism while honouring and celebrating the resilience of Hazara and Afghan women.

Their 2019 album Songs of Our Mothers reimagined songs composed and performed by Afghan women, winning the Songlines Fusion Award and receiving coverage on BBC Radio 3, BBC 6 Music, and international media.

The release marked an important moment in their development and later led to the creation of their independent label, Radio International, which aims to support radical and forward thinking music from London and beyond.

Their upcoming album Our Freedoms Must Be Won (2026) pushes further into synth rock, post punk, and jazz psychedelia while maintaining subtle influences from Afghan folk traditions. Developed through live improvisation and collective experimentation, it features Farsi poetry addressing themes of exile and resistance.

Kefaya & Elaha Soroor have performed at major UK and international festivals including WOMAD, Celtic Connections, Latitude Festival, Førdefestivalen, Glatt & Verkehrt, London Jazz Festival, Goa Jazz Festival, and many more alongside national tours across India. Highlights include the 2024 WOMEX official lineup and a UK support tour with Vieux Farka Touré.

Hailing from the rugged North Coast, The Causeway Shantymen have earned their reputation as seasoned seafarers whose shanties set hearts pounding—prompting audiences to stomp, holler, and ring in the rhythm by their second shanty.

Formed in March 2023, the Shantymen stand as a recognised society dedicated to enhancing mental health and positive wellbeing among adult men.

Anchored in Portballintrae, they set sail on every journey buoyed by lasting friendships, bold adventures, and a vibrant passion that echoes the allure of a treasure chest brimming with rum.

The journey so far has uincluded triumphant festival performances including Stendhal, Rosses Point Wild Atlantic Shanty Festival, Foyle Maritime Festival, Rathlin Sounds Festival, Greencastle Regatta Festival to name but a few.

Don’t miss the all-new show from Scotland’s hilarious new stand-up superstar who is widely hailed as one of the most exciting breakthrough artists in the global live comedy scene.

A social media sensation with 100’s of millions of online views, Flow is Connor’s 5th solo show – an hour of new standup featuring his intelligent and razor-sharp wit, brilliant jokes and his now-signature, single-malt level of Scottish cynicism that blends perfectly with his relatable everyman take on life, and which in 2025, won him the coveted Forth Fringe Award.

Connor sold more than 12,000 tickets for Flow’s premiere at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe – before the festival’s brochure even came out! The massive demand for tickets saw him add three extra shows at the 3000 seat Edinburgh Playhouse – the UK’S largest purpose-built theatre – in addition to his full fringe run. His last tour GALLUS also sold huge numbers of seats, added encore dates UK-wide and finished up with a record breaking five sold-out shows in the flagship King’s Theatre during 2026’s Glasgow International Comedy Festival.

He tours extensively across the UK, Australia, Europe, and off-Broadway in 2024 and 2025 as part of the prestigious Fringe Encore Series and the New York Comedy Festival. He released 2 comedy specials GALLUS and Vertigo* (*on comedy powerhouse 800LB Gorilla)

We say all this because you haven’t seen Connor on UK television – no panel shows, no chat shows, no stand-up showcases. It’s all happening as a result of his hilarious live shows and laugh-out-loud social media clips.

A walk through Belfast city centre guided by the words and works of some of the city’s best writers. This tour lets the story of Belfast step off the page and offers a contemporary take on the broader Belfast writing scene.  Stephen Douds is a published author on Belfast with long experience of working with writers and other artists for all the major broadcasters in Britain and Ireland.

Duration 90 mins

• 🚶 This is a walking tour covering Belfast city centre, so comfortable footwear is recommended.
• 🌦️ Dress for the weather! The tour takes place outdoors and will go ahead in most conditions, so come prepared for Belfast’s famously changeable weather.
• ☔ Bring a waterproof jacket or umbrella if rain is forecast.
• ♿ The tour takes place on city-centre streets and pavements. If you have any access requirements, please let us know when booking and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.
• ⏰ Please arrive 15 minutes before the start time. The tour will depart promptly.

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.

Originally released in 1981, Take It Or Leave It is the highly entertaining story of how Madness—one of the most successful and enduring British bands of all time—originally got together.

Filmed after the band had enjoyed a succession of Top 10 singles and had endeared themselves to the British public with the humour of their iconic music videos, it explores how a bunch of seven mates living in Camden Town in the late 70s formed the band. It captures the jobs they left behind, the line-up changes, the rows, the laughs, and how their distinctive ska-pop ‘Nutty Sound’ evolved.

Produced and directed by Dave Robinson, this was his first feature film. With no written script and no ‘acting,’ the film was completely based on real events with improvised dialogue by the band members themselves. The soundtrack includes a brilliant mix of both live and studio recordings, featuring hits like One Step Beyond, Night Boat to Cairo, My Girl, Baggy Trousers, and Embarrassment.

Graham McPherson (Suggs), Mark Bedford (Bedders), Lee Thompson (El Thommo), Carl Smyth (Chas Smash), Dan Woodgate (Woody), Chris Foreman (Chrissy Boy) and Mike Barson (Barzo)

UK 1981. 87min. Certificate 12A- A BFI release.

Formed in 1990 the “Belfast Jazz Swing Orchestra” is a 20 piece band dedicated to the performance and encouragement of the “Big Band” swing sound. The band is under the musical direction of Victor Currie and features vocalist and Band organiser, Caroline Brown.

Whether you’re a fan of Lindy, Swing, Waltz or Jive, this is the afternoon for you. A journey back to the sounds of the celebrated Big Bands of Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey and The Count Basie Orchestra. Dancing guaranteed.

Performer by nature and poet by trade, Georgie Jones has been praised for her ‘formidable stage presence and compelling way with words’ (Reviews Hub).

Roundhouse Poetry Slam finalist turned Resident Artist and BBC Words First alum, Georgie has toured her work across the UK and gathered millions of views online.

Her debut collection And The World Spins Anyway is a love letter to real life, however it shows up; an exploration of the exquisite messiness of modern existence in which Georgie, with her signature wit and warmth, makes the chaos feel actually quite comforting.

Lucy Porter returns to Out to Lunch with a brand new show about the power of letting yourself go – in every sense.

Whether that means embracing your wrinkles and love handles whilst living in a slanket, or having a couple of babychams and dancing like nobody’s watching (and if you’re a middle aged woman, they’re probably not).

It’s also about letting go of the person you’ve always thought you are, and using your midlife crisis to pursue new goals and reinvent yourself.

For five decades, banjo master Greg Cahill has led Special Consensus with a clear musical vision rooted in tradition and driven by innovation.

The band’s sound reflects a deep understanding of bluegrass, blending the drive and harmonies of the classic style with contemporary repertoire and adventurous arrangements.

Anchored by Cahill’s distinctive banjo style and the powerful lead vocals of Greg Blake, the 2023 and 2025 IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year, alongside Brian McCarty (mandolin and vocals) and Nico Humby (bass and vocals), Special Consensus moves effortlessly from jazz-tinged instrumentals to award-winning originals—always maintaining their bluegrass core while following their creative instincts.

Special C has released 22 recordings that have garnered two Grammy nominations and eight IBMA awards.

Writer, poet and performer Daragh Fleming (Cork) brings his acclaimed spoken word to Out to Lunch Festival for an intimate evening of poetry, stories and reflection.

Known for his raw honesty and lyrical style, Daragh’s work explores vulnerability, resilience, mental health and human connection with warmth, wit and emotional depth. Blending introspective poetry with sharp social observation, his performances create space for audiences to feel seen, heard and a little less alone.

Alongside his creative work, Daragh is an ambassador for See Change Ireland and Movember Ireland, helping to challenge the stigma surrounding mental health.

Daragh Fleming is a writer, poet and performer whose work is celebrated for its emotional honesty and lyrical voice. Through poetry and performance, he explores themes of identity, mental health, love and resilience, creating work that is both deeply personal and universally relatable.

Daragh has previously appeared at Electric Picnic, Kaleidoscope Festival, Barcelona Fringe, International Literature Festival Dublin, First Fortnight, Rebound Arts Festival and many more.

The outlandish, renegade little brother of Tom Wait’s career defining ‘Island trilogy’, 1987’s ‘Frank’s Wild Years’ showcases the thrilling final chapter of a rags-to-riches soap opera that had been spinning in his mind for decades.

Whatever skin Waits chose to inhabit, be it as a barfly raconteur, country bluesman, disaster poet or absconding guest of an asylum, his electrical, prickly, scathing and firebrand form of the mid-80s is one that may rank as the most fearsome (and awesome) to behold. So join us at the Oh Yeah Music Centre as part of the Out To Lunch Festival on Saturday 22nd January, as we celebrate 40 years of Frank’s Wild Years.

We’ll be assembling the fantastic musicians from our 2023 Swordfishtrombones event, and our 2025 Rain Dogs celebration; Kyron Bourke, Duke Special, Clara Tracey and Mike Mormecha, who will offer their spin on this classic album, plus some additional Tom Waits classics.

A brand-new tour of the joys of the English language with ‘Britain’s best-loved wordsmith’. Following on from her hit show ‘The Secret Life of Words’, Susie Dent is back with a brand-new collection of facts and stories from the wonderful world of words.

Have you ever wondered whether there’s a word for going to the fridge for the umpteenth time in search of something new? Or puzzled over the reason why a group of crows is called a ‘murder’, while owls form a ‘parliament’? Is teen slang actually designed to make us tear our hair out? And just how many words do we need for being drunk?

With the help of funny, insightful, and head-scratching examples, Susie will entertain and educate us with her pick of language’s greatest hits. Word Perfect will remind us just how unpredictable, wayward, and utterly magical our mother tongue can be.

Graeme Park is a pioneering British DJ whose career has helped shape house music and club culture. Emerging from Nottingham’s Selectadisc in the 1980s, he became one of the defining residents of Manchester’s legendary Haçienda, covering for Mike Pickering in 1988 before enjoying a nine-year residency there.

A DJ, producer, remixer and radio presenter, Graeme has played clubs and festivals across the UK and worldwide, sharing line-ups with legends including Todd Terry, David Morales, Derrick Carter, Louie Vega and Marshall Jefferson. His productions and remixes span artists including Inner City, New Order and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Graeme is also a key performer with Haçienda Classical, appearing with Manchester Camerata at major venues and festivals including Glastonbury and the Royal Albert Hall.

Still passionate after four decades, Graeme continues to champion classic, forgotten and contemporary house music.

Spend time in the delightful company of broadcaster, actor and comedian Mel Giedroycas she shares stories from her career, from unforgettable television moments to life behind the scenes, alongside her joyful new novel,The Comeback.

Expect warmth, wit, infectious enthusiasm and plenty of laughs from one of Britain’s favourite entertainers, chaired by Kathy Clugston.

Mel Giedroyc is a British comedian, presenter, and writer, widely recognized for her comedy partnership with Sue Perkins. Together, they co-hosted Channel 4’s Light Lunch and the BBC’s BAFTA-winning The Great British Bake Off. She has also starred in West End musicals and authored several bestselling comedic novels.

There will be a book signing after this event.

One of the UK’s most exciting funk and soul bands celebrates the music of Aretha Franklin.

Fronted by acclaimed London soul singer Lisa Grand, electrifying 8-piece Soul Pilgrims brings together real Hammond organ and a“majestic horn section”(Blues & Soul) for a high-energy live experience.

Expect timeless Aretha classics including ‘Respect’, ‘I Say a Little Prayer’, ‘Think’, ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’, and ‘I Never Loved a Man’, alongside iconic arrangements from her celebrated live album Aretha Live at the Fillmore West.

Soul Pilgrims are originally formed and conceived by members of the Jezebel Sextet, who’ve been performing sold out shows all over the UK for over 20 years.

Spawned in the era of warehouse raves The Sabres of Paradise, along with the likes of the Chemical Brothers and Underworld were lauded as the true pioneers of a new wave of dance / electronica taking over the clubs and eventually the airwaves.

Formed in 1992 The Sabres of Paradise, originally a studio partnership of Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns, were prolific working with and remixing the artists of the day including Bjork, Leftfield and New Order before signing to the iconic Warp Records to concentrate on their own sound.

A year later they released their debut LP ‘Sabersonic’ with NME including it within their top albums of 1993. The album featured ‘Smokebelch I’, a timeless piece of blissful Balearic joy that would go on to be acknowledged as one of the group’s most celebrated tracks with the ethereal ‘Smokebelch II – Beatless Mix’ being featured on countless mid 90’s ‘Chill Out’ compilations.

The Sabres’ ‘Haunted Dancefloor’ album followed in 1994 with the NME again listing it in their top albums of the year whilst The Guardian included it in their ‘1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die’. The album featured a collaboration with then new comers Portishead while other tracks were remixed by the band contemporaries, Depth Charge, LFO, Nightmares On Wax and The Chemicals Brothers.

Not content to remain solely a studio project The Sabres set to work putting a band together with Richard Thair (Red Snapper), Phil Mossman (LCD Soundsystem) and Nick Abnett (The Aloof) joining Kooner and Burns on stage while Weatherall continued to support from the wings as the Tour DJ.

Andrew Weatherall’s untimely passing in 2020 brought renewed attention to his musical legacy and significant influence as a producer, subsequently The Sabres of Paradise once again found themselves in the spotlight.

Now, 30’ish years on from the band’s seminal LP releases and the original Sabres’ touring band are back on the road helping to cement Andrew’s legacy and bring the Sabres’ sound to new audiences and old fans alike.

Gold Panda returns with TON UP, a brilliantly stubborn new album for Studio Barnhus: eight rough-hewn dance tracks and two cozy little service-station interludes, all crafted with the robust determination of a producer who knows that 140 bpm is not so much a tempo as a way of life.

Made with Derwin Dicker’s unmistakable sampler-bashing touch, the tracks on Ton Up carry the raw knock of old-school hip-hop instrumentals, pushed through pumping house-music machinery and ready to cause absolute trouble on any half-decent sound system.

Here you’ll find zero of that dreaded, over-explained “maturity” usually demanded of beloved electronic artists several albums deep into the game. Instead, Gold Panda just sounds as happily locked in as ever, carelessly chasing the physical joys of pressure, swing and repetition.

TON UP is functional, funny and oddly tender club music, arriving just when the world needed it the most (June 26 that is.)