The Belfast 2024 program was celebrated at an event on Thursday attended by artists, charity partners and festival organizers.
The facility has received a £5.9 million funding injection from the city council in hopes of turning Belfast into a global cultural destination.
Around 200 events, workshops and activities will be held across the city from March to December as part of the city’s largest ever creative and cultural festival.
Not-for-profit organization Another World Belfast is one of the organizations receiving funding.
Becky Bellamy, who co-founded the social enterprise with Conor Carr, said it was “a huge deal for us”.
She said: “We have finally been able to enhance our existing project with everything we have ever dreamed of.
“This funding will go towards the salaries of four people, including mine and Connor’s, which will allow us to work full-time, and will also pay for two more incredibly talented people, We are happy to welcome Aoife McCrorie and Tony Webster to the team.”
Becky Bellamy and Conor Kerr, co-founders of Another World Belfast
Another World Belfast is set to open The Greenhouse, a sustainable fashion hub, artist member space, community learning and social space, in Belfast city center in mid-April.
“There’s a huge shortage of artist spaces in the city. We’re not going to give artists their own rooms, but we’re going to operate it as a shared space that everyone can use. That means we don’t have any empty rooms.” At any time. ” she explained.
Becky said their aim was to “create a physical space for a melting pot of creative people to come together,” adding that the time was “perfect.”
She further added: “Things are changing here politically, and we’re starting to catch up with other progressive modern cities in terms of understanding how important culture is. Just the people here and the fun of the city.” But also economically.” Tourism.
“Sometimes conflict and hardship can actually lead to great creativity and resilience, and the people of Belfast have a huge amount of that.
“It’s a tough situation at the moment and we need a little bit of improvement. Instead of people rolling their eyes when Belfast is in the news, let’s be in the news for the right reasons.”
Artistic Creative Producer Ekta Krishan Tandon
Mayor Ryan Murphy said it was fitting that the event would be held in a “beautifully restored building” like 2 Royal Avenue, the city’s new cultural venue.
“This ambitious program of events will allow Belfastans to celebrate Belfast in a variety of exciting ways,” he said.
“This is a celebration of our people, our place, and our planet.”
He is particularly excited to be part of a project entitled ‘Waterworks’ which aims to launch 10,000 boats built by over 80 schools and community groups onto the River Lagan in August. He added that there is.
“Whether you’re east or west, north or south of the city, there’s definitely something for absolutely everyone,” he added.
In May this year, Arts Ekta commissioned a special event with funding thanks to Belfast 2024.
From May 16th to 19th, Little Amal will be paraded through the streets of Belfast.
In just three years, the 12-foot doll of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee child has already appeared in 160 towns and cities as well as 15 countries.
And now I’m coming to Belfast for the first time.
Krishan Tandon, Creative Producer at Arts Ekta, said the welcome of the international touring theater project was “huge news” for Belfast.
“What we celebrate is sending a positive message that refugees and asylum seekers are, after all, people who bring technical knowledge and culture to our society,” he said.
“Arts Ekta works to integrate refugees and asylum seekers into society through a variety of methods, including the arts.”
This year, Safari in the City founder Conor McKinney is offering projects such as dawn chorus events, workshops and a living mural as a thank you for the funding. “Here in Belfast, we have great green and blue space, which is chock-full of wildlife,” he explained.
“In Belfast alone there are eight species of bats and many rare wildflowers that grow here. We want to be able to see their life stories in real time and help people understand it. I would like to.”
Conor McKinney, founder of Safari in the City
To keep up to date with everything Belfast 2024 has to offer, follow the handle @belfast2024 on Facebook and Instagram.