9th October, 2025
From theatre performances, to concerts, exhibitions and more, here's your guide to what's on in the Arts....
Belfast International Arts Festival: Belfast International Arts Festival (BIAF) returns to venues throughout Belfast from 14 October – 9 November with a new season of contemporary arts and culture featuring the very best international and homegrown artists from the worlds of theatre, dance, music, visual arts, literature, and film.
Arts Council of Northern Ireland staff give us their highlights for this year’s festival on the video links below!
• Patricia Lavery, Head of Community Arts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
• Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music & Opera - https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
• Dr Suzanne Lyle, Head of Visual Arts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Other highlights include:
• Our Voice Together Now is a unique dance exchange between Belfast, Cairo, and Ramallah
• Future Parade is a new Shared Island creative youth project supported by four leading arts organisations: Macnas, BIAF, EastSide Arts, and Féile an Phobail
• The festival’s International Showcase, is a three-day event spotlighting the best theatre and performing arts from across Northern Ireland
• From 24-25 October, Soho Theatre will present My English Persian Kitchen at the Lyric Theatre.
• The festival will also premiere a new Ulster Orchestra co-commission from Michael Gallen at the Ulster Hall on 24 October.
• Don’t miss the 144th Royal Ulster Academy Exhibition at the Ulster Museum featuring over 300 works spanning painting, sculpture, ceramics, print, and textile
For more information, to view the full programme, or to book tickets, visit www.belfastinternationalartsfe...
City of Derry International Choir Festival: The City of Derry International Choir Festival is back for its 13th edition, promising a dazzling celebration of vocal artistry from October 22 to 26. With over 100 choirs jetting in from Estonia, France, Nigeria, the Philippines, and across Ireland and the UK, the city is set to become a global stage for five spectacular days of music, competition, and community. More programme announcements are expected in the coming weeks. To stay tuned, https://derrychoirfest.com/
Outburst Queer Arts Festival: returns to Belfast from 14-22 November 2025, offering Nine days of new queer art, ideas and collective magic. Highlights include:
• Exhibition: DYKELAND Volume II. Wednesday 29 October - Saturday 22 November, Ulster Presents Gallery
• The Belfast Ensemble presents Conor Mitchell’s DUBLIN JACK: IN CONCERT, Friday 14 November
• ITCH, 15-16 November, Brian Friel Theatre (QFT Building)
• IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD (and we feel fine): Why We Love Queer Dystopian Fiction, Saturday 15 November, Ledger Studio, University of Atypical
• Outburst x Array Collective: Under Seaveillance Queereoke, Saturday 22 November
• BIG TALK Trans Formations: Writers on Making Art & Making Change, Saturday 22 November
For the full programme visit https://outburstarts.com/2020/...
Lyric Theatre: presents:
• 24 Sep – 12 Oct, Dear Arabella by Marie Jones
• 2-4 Oct, The Pitch
• 8-10 Oct, The Acardia
• 21-Oct-15 Nov, Denouement
• 24-25 Oct, My Persian Kitchen
• 29 Oct – 9 Nov, Faust-ish
View all events at www.lyrictheatre.co.uk
Big Telly Theatre Company: presents Faust-ish, 29 Oct – 9 Nov at the Lyric Theatre as part of this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival. Faust-ish, a new play by Nicola McCartney and mavericks Big Telly…a story both wild and strange with delicious shivers, about a woman who becomes a distraction, falls from grace and deals with the devil in the dead of night in a desolate place….Where bargains have legs and pacts have teeth, a fever dream of otherworldly humdrummerie, beautiful theatre and solid craic. Visit www.lyrictheatre.co.uk
Tinderbox Theatre Company: presents The Upside Down House, 22 Oct-2 Nov at The MAC. Heartfelt, hilarious, and wildly imaginative, The Upside-Down House is a time-bending story of love, memory, and learning to letting go. Visit https://themaclive.com/event/t...
Bruiser Theatre Company: presents, The Boy Who Kicked Pigs 16-28 Oct at the MAC. Based on the book by Doctor Who’s Tom Baker, this madly hilarious, frenetic scream of a show, featuring shark-mauling sunbathers, combustible vicars and even waltzing rats, is a mesmerising masterpiece that tells the gloriously grisly tale of one scoundrel’s attempt at infamy. Visit www.themaclive.com
Grand Opera House: presents an exciting series with highlights including,
• Under the Lights By c21 Theatre Company and Maria Connolly, 9-11 Oct
• Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts. A must-see for fans of detective stories and thrillers, 14-18 Oct
• Ottilie. The international premiere of a new one woman show based on the life of Northern Irish blues singer Ottilie Patterson. Part of this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival, 15-24 Oct
• Martin Hayes Trio, Belfast International Arts Festival, 22 Oct
• Blood Brothers, the multi-award winning musical returns to Belfast, 28 Oct – 8 Nov
For tickets and to view the full programme please visit www.goh.co.uk
The Playhouse in Derry-Londonderry: presents
• Not On Our Watch, 11 Oct, Produced by Kabosh with support from Unite The Union.
• Trawled, 16 Oct
• Christine Bovill - Piaf Revisited, 19 Oct
For all this and more visit www.derryplayhouse.co.uk
Linen Hall Library: the Linen Hall Library is a truly unique institution. Founded in 1788, it is the oldest library in Belfast. The library is free for all to enter and enjoy. The Linen Hall Library offers a year-round programme of arts and cultural events featuring authors, academics, historians, performers, and much more. To view the full events programme at this wonderful library visit www.linenhall.com
Millennium Forum Derry-Londonderry: presents music, comedy, theatre and more with highlights including:
• Dylan Moran, 11 Oct
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 16-19 Oct
• Derry Choir Fest: Closing Gala Concert and Awards, 26 Oct
• Comedy with Joanne McNally, 6-7 Nov
• Phil Coulter - Tranquility by Candlelight, 9 Nov
• Ulster Orchestra Primary School Concerts, 12 Nov
• Paul Brady, 16 Nov
• Beauty and The Beast Panto, 28 Nov – 31 Dec
The Millennium Form also has a number of regular accessible events including:
• Act Your Age, Age Friendly Drama Group – 2 sessions a month
• Moves & Melodies, age friendly song and dance workshop – monthly event
• Dementia Friendly Tea Dance – monthly event
• Energy of Light 15+ Disco – monthly disco
• Sensory Musical Theatre – weekly event
View all events at www.millenniumforum.co.uk
THE MAC: presents a fantastic programme of theatre, comedy music and talks with highlights including:
• The Boy Who Kicked Pigs by Bruiser Theatre Company, 16-28 Oct
• The Upside Down House by Tinderbox Theatre Company, 22 Oct – 2 Nov
• Queer Set Dancing, 9 Oct- 16 Dec
• Imagination Station – Halloween Special, 18 Oct, suitable for kids
• Lisa O’Neill, 29-30 Oct
• Spooky Ceramics and Ghastly Gargoyles, 31 Oct, suitable for kids
• HOOLA, 4 Nov
• Celebrating Ottilie Patterson, 7 Nov
• Jack Frost, 26 Nov – 1 Jan (Christmas Show)
For all this and more visit www.themaclive.com
Crescent Arts Centre: presents a series of language, visual arts, craft, music, dance classes, and more plus workshops and events. Visit www.crescentarts.org for details.
Seamus Heaney HomePlace: has launched their Sep-Dec programme for 2025. Visit https://seamusheaneyhome.com/u...
Strand Arts Centre:
• Silver Screenings at Belmont Bowling Club, every Thursday at 2pm. Silver Screenings is a great opportunity not just to see a movie classic, but also for people to meet and interact, and enjoy a trip down memory lane. Films are chosen with seniors in mind but open to anyone who loves a classic movie! Tickets are £4 and include free tea, coffee and biscuits.
To view the films that are showing visit www.strandartscentre.com
Northern Ireland Opera: presents,
• 5 Nov, Morning Melodies - 'A Rose By Any Other Name'. A Grand Opera House Studio Series Event.
• 30 Nov, Opera at The Georgian Festival in Armagh
Visit www.niopera.com for more information on all events.
Belfast Music Society: presents:
• Gerard McChrystal (saxophone) & Craig Ogden (guitar) | Northern Lights MiniFest, 23 Oct, Harty Room, QUB
• Camerata Ireland | Northern Lights MiniFest, 25 Oct, The Great Hall, QUB
• M’ANAM | Northern Lights MiniFest, 26 Oct, Harty Room, QUB
• BMS Chill, Crescent Arts Centre. Belfast Music Society presents an afternoon of accessible high quality classical music for people with additional needs and their families. Join RiChmusicNI as they create both a stimulating and soothing environment for children and adults alike.
o 13 Dec, 0-13 Years, 1:30pm (Christmas edition)
o 13 Dec, 14 Years/adults, 3pm (Christmas edition)
Visit www.belfastmusicsociety.org
Moving on Music: presents,
• 9-12 Oct, Tempest (tour) support from Múlú
• 12 Oct, Poesis, Crescent arts Centre
• 18 Oct, Stick In The Wheel, Sunflower Bar
• 19 Oct, Chamber Choir Ireland, Fisherwick Church
• 25 Oct, Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals, Black Box
• 5 Nov, BIG | BRAVE, Ulster Sports Club
• 13-16 Nov, David Lyttle featuring Terell Stafford (USA) and special guests (Tour)
• 6 Dec, Trá Pháidín, Accidental Theatre
Visit www.movingonmusic.com
Portico of Ards: www.porticoards.com
Ulster Orchestra:
The Ulster Orchestra has revealed their new 2025/26 season programme with highlights including:
• 11 Oct, Ulster Orchestra: Spectacular Soundtracks
• 7 Nov, Ulster Orchestra: Always Clara
• 6 Dec, Ulster Orchestra: The Snowman
Visit https://www.ulsterorchestra.or... to view the full programme.
Oh Yeah Centre Belfast: presents a programme of music and tours with highlights including,
• The NI Music exhibition at Oh Yeah is the only permanent exhibit for popular music in Northern Ireland. There is much to see, including a series of storyboards documenting and plotting the history and the stories of Folk, Punk, Rock, Jazz and more. Exhibition Opening Times, Mon – Fri: 10am-4pm, Sat: 12-5pm. To enquire about a visit, or for further info and group bookings please contact info@ohyeahbelfast.com or call 02890310845
Visit www.ohyeahbelfast.com
The Black Box: presents a varied programme of music, comedy, street art tours and other arts events with highlights including:
For further information visit www.blackboxbelfast.com
Scott’s Jazz Club: Scott's Jazz Club runs a weekly concert in Ballyhackamore club 1a Sandown Road every Friday Night from 9pm. For upcoming performances visit Scott's Jazz Club (scottsjazzclub.com)
Dock Street Jazz Club: Upstairs at the American Bar, Belfast. Homegrown MOBO-nominated drummer David Lyttle and Dock Street Jazz Club regulars feature acclaimed guests and NI talent alike in Belfast latest's jazz attraction. Music starts at 8pm and advance booking from americanbarbelfast.com is highly recommended.
• Oct 12: Will Vinson (US/UK). Iconic alto saxophonist on the New York scene for over 20 years, with David Lyttle and rising star UK bassist James Owston.
• Oct 19: Jazz Record Lounge. Rare cuts and original pressings from Blue Note and beyond.
• Oct 26: Phil Robson (UK) & David Lyttle 'IN2'. Iconic UK guitarist joins David Lyttle to play music from their album 'IN2' ('quietly groundbreaking' – All About Jazz)
• Nov 2: Next Generation Sounds: Nick Falconer. Creative and unique Lisburn drummer with an eclectic group of up-and-coming talent.
• Nov 9: Next Generation Sounds: Mackenzie Rodgers. Rising star bass guitarist blending jazz, hip-hop and more.
• Nov 16: Jazz Record Lounge. Rare cuts and original pressings from Blue Note and beyond.
• Nov 23: TBA
• Nov 30: Jean Toussaint (USA). Legendary US saxophonist and former member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.
• Dec 7: Ashley Henry. An exploration of jazz and hip-hop featuring one of South London's latest exports, nominated in the Jazz FM Awards, Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards and hotly tipped by the LA Times.
• Dec 14: Next Generation Sounds: Marianne McBride. Talented up-and-coming vocalist singing from the Great American Songbook.
• Dec 21: Jazz Record Lounge. Rare cuts and original pressings from Blue Note and beyond.
Young at Art: presents,
• An Fia sa Choill, 18 Oct at Culturlann McAdam O Fiach, age 6+. To celebrate her book, ‘An Fia sa Choill’ – a beautiful new retelling of the Sadhbh and Oisín myth Sadhbh Devlin will be joined by Máire Zepf, author of ‘An Féileacán agus an Rí’ in a fun collaborative session exploring the world of Irish mythology and shape-shifters. Listen to Sadhbh and Máire as they share their infectious passion for the weird and wonderful in Irish myths and imagine your own shapeshifting characters and stories. Young at Art is delighted to have An Fia sa Choill as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival 2025. Duration: 60 mins. Tickets are FREE but must be booked in advance. Book early to avoid disappointment, visit www.youngatart.co.uk
Circusful: Circusful currently have some class spaces available for 2-3 year olds (attending with a parent/guardian) and 12 -15 year olds. To find out more or book a spot for your young person, get in touch with them at classes@circusful.org / Visit www.circusful.org
Crescent Arts Centre: has a new term of classes to book and enjoy now. Fancy learning to speak some Italian before your holiday to Italy this year? Well now’s your chance! From visual arts, language classes, acting, dance, music making and more, there’s something to tantalise all tastes.
Crescent Arts Centre will also be taking part in Culture Night 2025 from 4-7pm with several drop-in activities from Maiden Voyage Dance, Fighting Words NI, NI Science Festival and Crescent Arts Centre, come along for an evening of art activities, map workshops, zine-making and dance performances. Visit www.crescentarts.org
Duncairn: presents live music from the following,
• 10 Oct, (Music) Hymns of Doom: Darkest Era (Acoustic)
• 11 Oct, (Music) Eleanor Dunsdon & Gregor Black
• 17 Oct, Peadar Connor - 'Debut' EP Launch
• 26 Oct, Music & Movement of Displacement and Belonging
• 1 Nov, Saoirse Casey + Josie Duncan
• 6 Nov, Trú
• 7 Nov, The Breath
• 8 Nov, ITMA Presents Drawing From the Well
The Duncairn also has a range of workshops and craft classes and courses. For further details and to view the full programme of events visit www.theduncairn.com
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: presents,
• Irish Language Intensive Course. Intensive courses are a great way to boost your language skills in a short space of time. The course will be both motivating and informative and will take your confidence in the Irish language to another level. The levels we offer are: Bunrang|Beginner , Meanrang | Intermediate , Ardrang | Advanced . Please email sinead@culturlann.ie for more information
• Yoga Classes with Dunla, 6:30-7:30pm, £5. No need to register, just pay on arrival.
For this and more visit www.culturlann.ie
Greater Shantallow Community Arts: presents Spill The Tae Youth Led Podcast from the young people at Studio2/GSCA. This amazing group of creative young people have launched their very own podcast and it can be found on Spotify or Apple Podcast.
Eden Place Arts Centre: in Derry-Londonderry has an exciting range of courses and workshops to get your creative juices flowing including wood sculpture, Inner Landscapes, Abstract Art, Ceramics, Painting for Beginners, Contemporary Botanical Watercolours, Landscape Painting Life Painting, Spinning and Weaving plus Portrait Painting, among others. All courses are designed for adults aged 18+. Visit www.edenplaceartscentre.com
WheelWorks Arts: presents,
ArtCart: Unique to WheelWorks Arts (WWA) is their ArtCart community engagement and outreach programme, which brings creative and artistic activities to your community. ArtCart is also the name WWA gives to its bespoke vehicle that can travel across Northern Ireland and transform into a unique workshop space. ArtCart is available for hire at youth, community, education, and festival events, bringing artistic and creative activities to the community. For further information and to hear about their special Art Cart offers over Christmas, visit https://www.wheelworksarts.com or email artcart@wheelworksarts.com
TS3 Programme: The Tech Studio Skills Share (TS3 programme) is a new initiative by WheelWorks Arts (WWA) that offers training to help people improve their creativity and skills in digital communication by harnessing the specialist artistic expertise of the WWA team. They are now offering a range of training opportunities to the corporate and commercial sectors. For further information, visit https://www.wheelworksarts.com
Streetwise Community Circus: Fancy learning how to juggle and other circus skills?! To take advantage of this opportunity all you have to do is email Streetwise on streetwiseathome@gmail.com suitable for participants who range in age from 8 to 80 plus.
QSS:
• Gallery 1: Raw Chicken, 9 Oct-13 Nov 2025
• Gallery 2: Underpin, QSS artists, 9 Oct-13 Nov
• 25 Oct, Behind the Studio Door – QSS and Creative Exchange
• 8 Nov, Raw Chicken – Éabha Campbell, Indigo Azidahaka, Cameron Clarke. Step into the surreal with Raw Chicken—a live performance by Éabha Campbell and Indigo Azidahaka, with sound and light design by Cameron Clarke.
Visit https://www.queenstreetstudios...
The MAC Belfast: presents,
• Niamh Seana Meehan: Sea Skin, 9 Oct – 4 Jan. Sea Skin features a tactile soft sculpture inspired by the experience of sea swimming and encounters beneath the ocean’s surface.
• Marie Hanlon & Rhona Clarke: LAST ACT, 9 Oct – 4 Jan. LAST ACT is a synchronised video installation by artist Marie Hanlon in collaboration with composer Rhona Clarke. The work presents climate change as something both real and abstract, as such mirrors the human response to a changing earth.
• William McKeown, 9 Oct – 4 Jan. William McKeown made paintings, drawings, prints and installations that captured the openness and life-enhancing power of nature.
Visit www.themaclive.com
Craft NI Gallery presents:
‘Under Construction’ A Derek Wilson exhibition. For this exhibition, Derek Wilson uses the Gallery as a project space to contemplate the dialogue and interaction between his current research project into collage and painting, and its later translation into three-dimensional sculptural objects. Visit www.craftni.org
Seacourt Print Workshop: Seacourt is a friendly open-access print workshop based in the seaside town of Bangor, Northern Ireland. They offer membership, courses and resources for all, as well as our self-arranged residency programme and exhibitions. Visit https://seacourt-ni.org.uk/#
Golden Thread Gallery: Belfast's leading contemporary art gallery, located at 23-29 Queen Street, BT1 6EA. Free Entry.
• Golden Thread Gallery is proud to present Radical Hope, 13 Sep – 8 Nov, a new exhibition developed in collaboration with Arsenal Gallery in Białystok, Poland. Curated from Collection II, one of Poland’s most significant collections of contemporary art, the exhibition offers a timely reflection on uncertainty, resilience, and the transformative potential of art.
Collection II, held by the Arsenal Gallery and shaped under the direction of Monika Szewczyk,
Golden Thread Gallery also has a range of other events on including:
• Mindful Colouring Drop-In Workshops (ages 18+). No booking required, just drop in!
• Out of Office Drop-In Sessions Wednesdays 12-2PM. All materials are provided, as well as tea, coffee & biscuits. No booking required, just drop in!
• Family Workshops, ages 4-11, every Saturday
For all of the above, and more https://goldenthreadgallery.co...
PS2/Paragon Studios: presents,
The Regeneration Game, 2 Oct – 8 Nov. PS² in partnership with Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive as part of Belfast Film Festival.
This group exhibition brings together work by artists based in Dublin, Belfast, and London/Amsterdam, alongside archive footage from Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive, to interrogate housing as one of the defining and persistent socio-political inequalities of our time. Spanning gaming, film, installation, and printmaking, this exhibition and events programme mobilises art as a tool for collective resistance, offering playful yet provocative alternatives to structures of dominance.
Visit www.pssquared.org
Belfast Exposed: presents,
In Her Own Image / Gathering Time / Fotodziennik, 2 Oct – 20 Dec 2025
Gallery I: In Her Own Image: Fragments of a Feminine Self – Teresa Gierzyńska & Aneta Grzeszykowska
Gallery II: Gathering Time – Zofia Rydet
Archive Gallery: Fotodziennik / Photo Diary – Anna Beata Bohdziewicz
Belfast Exposed also offers a range of photography and videography training courses. Visit www.belfastexposed.com
VOID Art Centre: presents.
• Pollanroe Burn, by Emily McFarland, 30 Sep – 13 Dec 2025
Pollanroe Burn or An Pollán Rua – the little red pool – unfolds through a series of new films and archival fragments, forming part of artist Emily McFarland’s ongoing long-term research into the shifting ecology of the Sperrin Mountains of West Tyrone, in the North of Ireland, in the shadow of proposed major industrial-scale gold extraction. Visit www.derryvoid.com
CCA: presents,
• DURA, 4 Oct – 20 Dec 2025
Dura by artist Ciarraí MacCormac contains a new body of work comprising painting, sculpture and works on paper. The polyglot sensibility of paint is what keeps Ciarraí drawn to working with this material. The artist has applied her research into pristine preservations within bodies and operative techniques to give a new lease of life and longevity into her paintings. Within the works there is a layering of liveness and cross sections of surface to create a focus on imagined compartments within the body. The works are constructed from poly materials using primary colours of red, blue and yellow. Their peripheral shapes and use of repetitive accumulation aims to create a sense of dilution throughout the exhibition.
Visit www.ccadld.org for more details.
Arts Council NI Collection at Island Arts Centre, 'How Does it Feel', 18 Sept - 18 Oct 2025 in Galleries 1 & 2. This curated exhibition, drawn from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) Collection, seeks to explore the innate need to feel connection – with each other, the environment and our inner worlds. The Arts Council’s contemporary collection represents over twenty years of visual art by artists, from emerging to established, living and working in Northern Ireland. This showcase includes work by artists who are based in the Lisburn and Castlereagh area.
All News
