Belfast Music

Belfast Music UNESCO City of Music. Belfast’s music scene, from punk to proms, trad to rock legends and fantastic emerging new talent

Book for 2 Royal Avenue gigs here - http://belfast_music.eventbrite.com

Belfast TradFest has launched its 2026 programme and it's something special.One of our city’s most beloved festivals ret...
19/06/2026

Belfast TradFest has launched its 2026 programme and it's something special.

One of our city’s most beloved festivals returns from 26th July - 2nd August, with its 8th edition marking a huge new chapter: almost 600 events across eight days, welcoming tens of thousands of visitors to Belfast for traditional music, song, dance, learning and community.

The newly launched programme is properly packed, with major concerts from Solas, Flook, Michael McGoldrick Big Band, Cherish the Ladies, Four Men and a Dog and Cúig, alongside céilís, talks, screenings, workshops, slow sessions, junior sessions and one of the most ambitious daytime trad arts programmes anywhere.

There’s also the internationally renowned Summer School, delivered with Ulster University, with participants from 34 countries, more than 70 master tutors, and over 100 bursaries helping young musicians access world-class tuition and performance opportunities.

From pub sessions and family-friendly events to harp workshops, Highland piping, q***r céilí, film, conversation and late-night energy, this year’s Belfast TradFest feels like a brilliant snapshot of where traditional music in Belfast is right now: rooted, open, forward-looking & full of life.

Tickets are on sale now:

https://www.belfasttraditionalmusic.com/

UK Music are developing a Manifesto for Music for Northern Ireland ahead of the 2027 NI Assembly elections, and they wan...
19/06/2026

UK Music are developing a Manifesto for Music for Northern Ireland ahead of the 2027 NI Assembly elections, and they want to hear from the people who know the sector best 🎶

If you work in music or music education anywhere in NI, this is a chance to share your views and help shape practical ideas for its future.

At Belfast Music, we’re keen to help UK Music engage with as many artists, freelancers, educators, venues, promoters, organisations, businesses and wider stakeholders as possible, so that the voices of those working across music here are heard clearly.

As the Music Matters roadmap put it, this work represents “a genuine opportunity to uplift the voices of those to whom music matters” and this survey is another important way to do just that.

The survey closes at midnight on Friday 17th July.

https://ukmusic.movement-action.org/p/uk-music-northern-ireland-manifesto

Scratch My Progress Vol. 14 is out today, and it sounds like Belfast music levelling up in real time 🔥The new four-track...
19/06/2026

Scratch My Progress Vol. 14 is out today, and it sounds like Belfast music levelling up in real time 🔥

The new four-track EP from Oh Yeah Music Centre's landmark artist development programme is out now, bringing together brilliant new music from this year’s cohort: Lord Jane, Pinsleep, GUSH and The Thing Is…

Across four incredible songs, Scratch My Progress Vol. 14 captures a scene in rude health: restless and more exciting than ever. Every year, this release offers one of the clearest reads on where Belfast and NI's emerging music community is at. Right now, the answer is: thriving.

Supported by PRS Foundation’s Talent Development Fund and IMRO, Scratch My Progress gives emerging artists nine months of mentoring, recording, performance opportunities and career development. Now in its 15th year, the programme has helped support artists including Problem Patterns, Sasha Samara, Sister Ghost, Wynona Bleach, Lemonade Shoelace and Kitt Philippa.

This latest volume feels like another serious marker: four artists pushing forward and another reminder that new music here is in extraordinary shape.

Stream Scratch My Progress Vol. 14 now via link in bio.

Belfast music is heading north!It’s just been announced that Belfast artists will travel to Finland this September as pa...
19/06/2026

Belfast music is heading north!

It’s just been announced that Belfast artists will travel to Finland this September as part of The Irish Festival of Oulu 2026: the world’s northernmost Irish cultural festival.

Supported by Belfast City Council, the exchange marks an exciting new connection between our UNESCO City of Music Belfast, and Oulu, a UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts and European Capital of Culture 2026.

The Belfast contingent includes Tempest, Gráinne Holland and Band, The Belfast Wren Boys, and storyteller Eamonn Keenan, who will be part of a major programme celebrating Irish music, storytelling, language, street arts and cultural exchange from 23-27th September.

This year’s festival also launches Cultural Kaleidoscopes, a large-scale outdoor street festival bringing Irish and Finnish traditions into the heart of Oulu city centre.

A brilliant international platform for Belfast artists, and another reminder of the reach and imagination of the city’s music community.

More via The Irish Festival of Oulu: https://irkku.fi/

Two more brilliant Teenage Kicks events land in Belfast this week.Belfast City Council’s micro-grant programme supportin...
16/06/2026

Two more brilliant Teenage Kicks events land in Belfast this week.

Belfast City Council’s micro-grant programme supporting high-quality live music experiences for under-18s continues tomorrow, Thursday 18th June, as Sugru presents Zoë Conway and John McIntyre at The Commons.

Then on Saturday 20th June, Chordblossom’s Summer Assembly takes over Crescent Arts Centre, featuring Becky McNeice, Cora Harkin, Madams Last Discovery, Pennys Band, Polar Bolero and more.

Created to open up more opportunities for younger audiences to experience live music in welcoming, accessible settings, Teenage Kicks is supporting venues, promoters and programmers to bring ambitious, affordable events to the city’s next generation of music fans.

With brilliant artists and a wide range of sounds across the week, this is a great chance to see what the initiative is all about.

Find out more and book tickets:

https://www.chordblossom.com/news/chordblossom-present-the-summer-assembly

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/zoe-conway-john-mcintyre-at-the-commons-tickets-1989345425720

Over the coming days and weeks we’ll be sharing loads about Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann Belfast 2026. Here’s today’s spotl...
15/06/2026

Over the coming days and weeks we’ll be sharing loads about Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann Belfast 2026. Here’s today’s spotlight and it’s a brilliant opportunity for musicians.

Titanic Distillers are calling for musicians of all genres to perform as part of the Fleadh celebrations at Titanic Distillers this August, one of Belfast’s most iconic and atmospheric settings.

Whether your sound is rooted in tradition or shaped by contemporary influences, they want to hear from you and offer a platform to showcase your talent in front of what promises to be a huge audience during the world’s biggest celebration of Irish music, song, language and dance.

Simply email [email protected] to declare your interest! In association with Maritime Mile

EastSide Arts Festival 2026's music strand is something else this year - and it runs the full length of the dial 🎶It kic...
15/06/2026

EastSide Arts Festival 2026's music strand is something else this year - and it runs the full length of the dial 🎶

It kicks off on Friday, 24th July with SOAK at Titanic Distillers Pumphouse, supported by Belfast’s own Cosign, alongside Superfly Funk & Soul’s Pete Brady bringing 30+ years of vinyl to the Harland & Wolff Staff Club and Scott’s Jazz Club hosting the Leon Buckley Quartet at Ballyhackamore Social Club.

Saturday, 25th belongs to EastSide Electronics: Todd Terje and Leftfield DJ headline CS Lewis Square, with Timmy Stewart, Jordan Nocturne, Marion Hawkes, Venus Dupree and Efa O’Neill across Bullhouse East and Banana Block. Free entry at Bullhouse from 4pm.

Sunday sees the Belfast Community Gospel Choir at CS Lewis Square. Then it just keeps going: Common Threads at Skainos on the 27th, KPop Demon Disco at Belmont Bowling Club on the 28th, Anthony Toner Trio at Templemore Baths, and Soda Pop Lunchtime Bopz at Strand Church on the 29th.

https://eastsidearts.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/event-categories/126495862

Aoibha released one of the most quietly remarkable Irish folk EPs of last year with Insignificance and she's wasted no t...
15/06/2026

Aoibha released one of the most quietly remarkable Irish folk EPs of last year with Insignificance and she's wasted no time in following it up. 'Albatross,' her stunning new collaboration with the incomparable Ciaran Lavery, finds her at the very peak of her powers.

Written on the very first day the two artists met, sat by a piano surrounded by poetry books, Albatross takes its inspiration from Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, exploring the tension between peace and anger, accountability and blame. It's a song that has already found a life beyond music, being used to raise awareness around violence against women in Northern Ireland. As AOIBHA herself puts it: "the quietest acts of defiance can be the most powerful."

Premiered by John Kerr on BBC Radio Ulster to glowing praise, Albatross is out now. If you haven't heard it yet, clear some space and give it the attention it deserves.

Photo by Aaron Cunningham

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDPv1krL0Rk

Three of Belfast and Bangor’s finest grassroots venues are part of something big this month.Black Box, Oh Yeah Music Cen...
12/06/2026

Three of Belfast and Bangor’s finest grassroots venues are part of something big this month.

Black Box, Oh Yeah Music Centre & The Court House Bangor are among 400+ venues across the UK taking part in Everywhere at Once: a massive National Lottery and Music Venue Trust celebration of grassroots live music running 26-28th June.

The local lineup is well worth your attention. Dom Martin and the Clara Rose Big Band head to the Black Box, alongside a Rory Gallagher Tribute and the Ronnie Greer Big Band as part of Belfast City Blues Festival. Oh Yeah hosts Volume Control on Friday and If It Bleeds with Frayed Ends BC, Microtonal and Stitch on Saturday. Over in Bangor, Chunk Funk takes to the Courthouse on Saturday night.

Tickets & full details: https://artscouncil-ni.org/news/ni-grassroots-music-venues-take-part-in-national-lottery-summer-celebration-of-live-music

PRS Foundation's Beyond Borders programme is now open for applications, offering artists, bands, ensembles, promoters & ...
02/06/2026

PRS Foundation's Beyond Borders programme is now open for applications, offering artists, bands, ensembles, promoters & presenters in Northern Ireland the chance to access funding of up to £20,000 for ambitious cross-border new music projects.

Delivered in partnership with Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Arts Council of Ireland / An Chomhairle Ealaíon, the programme supports the creation, touring and promotion of innovative, high-quality new music across NI, as well as the Republic of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

For NI's music community, this is a significant opportunity to build meaningful partnerships across these islands, by reaching wider audiences and developing work with the potential for national and international profile.

Projects can include new commissions, recordings and repeat performances of music written in the past five years, with support available for up to 8-10 projects that demonstrate strong collaboration, public engagement and long-term partnership potential.

Applications close on June 30th.

Find out more and apply via PRS Foundation:

https://prsfoundation.com/funding-support/funding-for-organisations/beyond-borders/

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