SPIEGELTENT TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT 44TH BELFAST FESTIVAL AT QUEEN’S
NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 7TH SEPTEMBER 2006
SPIEGELTENT TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT 44TH BELFAST FESTIVAL AT QUEEN’S
One of the world’s most decadent travelling cabaret and music salons, The Spiegeltent, is set to become one of the star attractions at the 44th Belfast Festival at Queen’s, which runs from 19th October to 4th November.
Built in 1920 by master craftsmen from wood, canvas, leaded glass and mirrors, this hand-hewn art nouveau pavilion will take centre stage at Custom House Square, with support from the Laganside Corporation, for the duration of Ireland’s biggest international arts festival. Also known as the Salon Perdu, the Spiegeltent will play host to everything from World Music and Cabaret to Magners Comedy, BT Talks and more.
Amongst the other highlights from this year’s festival programme, details of which were announced earlier today, are the breathtaking voice of one of the world’s leading tenors, the hot and spicy sounds of Cuba, an innovative new version of a Shakespearean classic and the one and only ‘human sparkler’!
Over 18 packed festival days and nights, artists and events from over 15 countries - including Argentina, Russia, Sweden, Israel, Spain, Australia, France, Cuba, Somalia, Canada, United States and Norway – will entertain audiences in venues throughout the city.
Speaking at the festival’s programme launch, Graeme Farrow, Festival Director, said:
“This year’s festival presents a fascinating, balanced mix of events, ranging from large-scale spectacles and familiar names on the big stage to smaller, intriguing and more irreverent shows all over the city. It brings culture from around the world to our doorstep and showcases the very best work of our local artists. The introduction of the magnificent Spiegeltent venue is the icing on the festival cake - at least one night out here is essential!”
Opening Events
Topping the bill at this year’s festival is The Ulster Bank Opening Concert at the Waterfront Hall on Friday 20th October, featuring world-renowned Argentine tenor José Cura with the Ulster Orchestra. Maestro Cura, who has been hailed in the media as the successor to the Pavarotti-Domingo-Carreras triumvirate and baptised as "the fourth tenor", will sing and conduct arias and overtures from some of the world’s greatest operas at this, his only UK and Irish date of 2006.
Following the sensational success of Sticky in 2003, The World Famous return to the festival to present Crackers?, a free outdoor extravaganza combining fireworks, projection, performance and music. The event is presented in association with the NI Fire and Rescue Service and Bank of Ireland and will open the festival on Thursday 19th October at Botanic Gardens Playing Fields. The audience of adults and brave children is surrounded by fire and smoke, spinning wheels and fireworks and the ‘human sparkler’…
Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said:
“For several decades, through the Troubles and beyond, Belfast Festival at Queen’s has become a key annual highlight in Northern Ireland’s cultural and artistic calendar. As its longest-running supporter, the Arts Council is delighted this year to be able to help the festival to continue to offer its eclectic mix of events and carry on its tradition of bringing over headline international arts to Belfast.”
The Right Honourable, The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Pat McCarthy said:
SPIEGELTENT TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT 44TH BELFAST FESTIVAL AT QUEEN’S
One of the world’s most decadent travelling cabaret and music salons, The Spiegeltent, is set to become one of the star attractions at the 44th Belfast Festival at Queen’s, which runs from 19th October to 4th November.
Built in 1920 by master craftsmen from wood, canvas, leaded glass and mirrors, this hand-hewn art nouveau pavilion will take centre stage at Custom House Square, with support from the Laganside Corporation, for the duration of Ireland’s biggest international arts festival. Also known as the Salon Perdu, the Spiegeltent will play host to everything from World Music and Cabaret to Magners Comedy, BT Talks and more.
Amongst the other highlights from this year’s festival programme, details of which were announced earlier today, are the breathtaking voice of one of the world’s leading tenors, the hot and spicy sounds of Cuba, an innovative new version of a Shakespearean classic and the one and only ‘human sparkler’!
Over 18 packed festival days and nights, artists and events from over 15 countries - including Argentina, Russia, Sweden, Israel, Spain, Australia, France, Cuba, Somalia, Canada, United States and Norway – will entertain audiences in venues throughout the city.
Speaking at the festival’s programme launch, Graeme Farrow, Festival Director, said:
“This year’s festival presents a fascinating, balanced mix of events, ranging from large-scale spectacles and familiar names on the big stage to smaller, intriguing and more irreverent shows all over the city. It brings culture from around the world to our doorstep and showcases the very best work of our local artists. The introduction of the magnificent Spiegeltent venue is the icing on the festival cake - at least one night out here is essential!”
Opening Events
Topping the bill at this year’s festival is The Ulster Bank Opening Concert at the Waterfront Hall on Friday 20th October, featuring world-renowned Argentine tenor José Cura with the Ulster Orchestra. Maestro Cura, who has been hailed in the media as the successor to the Pavarotti-Domingo-Carreras triumvirate and baptised as "the fourth tenor", will sing and conduct arias and overtures from some of the world’s greatest operas at this, his only UK and Irish date of 2006.
Following the sensational success of Sticky in 2003, The World Famous return to the festival to present Crackers?, a free outdoor extravaganza combining fireworks, projection, performance and music. The event is presented in association with the NI Fire and Rescue Service and Bank of Ireland and will open the festival on Thursday 19th October at Botanic Gardens Playing Fields. The audience of adults and brave children is surrounded by fire and smoke, spinning wheels and fireworks and the ‘human sparkler’…
Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said:
“For several decades, through the Troubles and beyond, Belfast Festival at Queen’s has become a key annual highlight in Northern Ireland’s cultural and artistic calendar. As its longest-running supporter, the Arts Council is delighted this year to be able to help the festival to continue to offer its eclectic mix of events and carry on its tradition of bringing over headline international arts to Belfast.”
The Right Honourable, The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Pat McCarthy said:
“Belfast City Council is immensely proud of the Belfast Festival at Queen’s. This year’s programme has so many treats in store, demonstrating once again a real commitment to showcasing the best of international performance alongside local talent. As well as providing really memorable and inspirational events for local people, this flagship festival is doing a great deal to project a very positive image of Belfast and attract visitors to our city.”
The Blackbird’s Nest – Gala Poetry Evening
Queen's University, in association with the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry and Blackstaff Press, is proud to launch a major new poetry anthology at the Whitla Hall on Saturday 4th November, as part of the Belfast Festival at Queen’s.
An unprecedented line-up of some of Ireland’s finest poetry voices – including Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Frank Ormsby, Ciaran Carson, Medbh McGuckian, Jean Bleakney, Sinead Morrissey, Gearoid Mac Lochlainn, Alan Gillis and Leontia Flynn – will gather together to read from their works which have been included in the anthology, entitled The Blackbird’s Nest. The anthology features the work of three generations of celebrated poets who have all worked at, attended, been artist in residence at or had another direct connection with Queen’s University.
World Theatre
Blazing a trail of awards glory from London to New York, we are thrilled to welcome The National Theatre, in a festival partnership with the Grand Opera House, to Belfast for the only Irish performances of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys (Tuesday 31st October to Saturday 4th November.)
Cardboard Citizens – the only professional theatre company working with homeless and ex-homeless people as creators, participants and audience – renew their relationship with the Royal Shakespeare Company with Timon of Athens (Tuesday 31st October to Friday 3rd November, Waterfront Studio).
Shakespeare's rarely performed tale is the story of one man's journey from philanthropy to misanthropy and this unusual adaptation, set within the context of a motivational management training event, comes direct to the Belfast Festival at Queen’s from performances at the Complete Works Festival in Stratford. The Belfast performances are presented in association with P&O Irish Sea.
In the hilarious and innovative All Wear Bowlers (Old Museum arts centre, Saturday 21st to Monday 23rd October), two silent film clowns take a wrong turn and find themselves trapped in a haunted theatre, where hard-boiled eggs play tricks on them and gravity refuses to behave.
Windmill Baby (Wednesday 1st to Saturday 4th November, Drama and Film Centre at Queen’s) is a one-woman redemption piece about an old Aboriginal woman who returns to the deserted Kimberley cattle station in the West Australian outback that was her home 50 years ago. Told by indigenous voices and delivered with the poetry of a campfire storyteller, the play embraces universal themes of love, life and loss.
Blazing a trail of awards glory from London to New York, we are thrilled to welcome The National Theatre, in a festival partnership with the Grand Opera House, to Belfast for the only Irish performances of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys (Tuesday 31st October to Saturday 4th November.)
Cardboard Citizens – the only professional theatre company working with homeless and ex-homeless people as creators, participants and audience – renew their relationship with the Royal Shakespeare Company with Timon of Athens (Tuesday 31st October to Friday 3rd November, Waterfront Studio).
Shakespeare's rarely performed tale is the story of one man's journey from philanthropy to misanthropy and this unusual adaptation, set within the context of a motivational management training event, comes direct to the Belfast Festival at Queen’s from performances at the Complete Works Festival in Stratford. The Belfast performances are presented in association with P&O Irish Sea.
In the hilarious and innovative All Wear Bowlers (Old Museum arts centre, Saturday 21st to Monday 23rd October), two silent film clowns take a wrong turn and find themselves trapped in a haunted theatre, where hard-boiled eggs play tricks on them and gravity refuses to behave.
Windmill Baby (Wednesday 1st to Saturday 4th November, Drama and Film Centre at Queen’s) is a one-woman redemption piece about an old Aboriginal woman who returns to the deserted Kimberley cattle station in the West Australian outback that was her home 50 years ago. Told by indigenous voices and delivered with the poetry of a campfire storyteller, the play embraces universal themes of love, life and loss.
Based on the true experiences of his grandfather during WW1, one of Northern Ireland’s leading playwrights, Martin Lynch, brings Holding Hands at Paschendale to the Lyric Theatre from Friday 13th October to Saturday 4 November, while Belfast playwright Marie Jones has collaborated with Liverpudlian playwright Maurice Bressman to bring to the stage The Liverpool Boat, a highly entertaining, musical production about the mass emigration of Northern Irish people to Liverpool.
Prime Cut Productions returns to Old Museum arts centre with the Irish Premiere of Naomi Wallace’s beautiful and haunting play, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, a suspense-filled, coming of age tale about the beauty of the human spirit, while the terror, fear, guilt and desperation felt by two parents who learn that their child has simply disappeared is reflected in The Early Bird, an extraordinary new play by Leo Butler, presented by Ransom Productions.
Dance
Belfast Festival at Queen’s is delighted to welcome two of the world’s great contemporary choreographers, Stephen Petronio and Russell Maliphant, to Northern Ireland.
The evocative signature movement of Stephen Petronio combines with the poetic surge of singer and songwriter Rufus Wainwright and the voices of the Ulster Youth Choir to create Bud Suite and BLOOM, for which Wainwright has written original material which will be performed by the Ulster Youth Choir. In association with the Ulster Tatler and the American Consulate, Stephen Petronio Company will present these works at Stranmillis College Theatre on Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th October.
Described as “one of the most fertile choreographic minds working in Britain today” (The Guardian), the dances of award winning choreographer Russell Maliphant are captivating to watch. Presented in association with Ballygowan mineral water, Transmission (Saturday 21st October, Waterfront Studio), is a piece created for an ensemble of five female dancers.
Spiegeltent – Salon Perdu
Since they were first created in the 1920’s, the magic mirrors of the Spiegeltent have reflected thousands of images of artists, audiences and exotic gatherings and played host to the world’s greatest cabaret artists, musicians and circus burlesque performers. Now the Salon Perdu will transport Belfast audiences into another era with the seductive sounds and smouldering passion of Maria Tecce (Thursday 2nd November), an eclectic mix of urban anthems, sketches, gorgeous girls and earthy sensuality in The Fallen Angels Cabaret (Wednesday 1st November) and Pigeon & Plum's MACAB-ARET (Tuesday 31st October), a Victorian Music Hall Extravaganza featuring the undead vaudeville talents of yester year.
Classical Music
This year’s Closing Concert (Friday 3rd November, Waterfront Hall), presented in association with Robertson Patterson Partnership and RTE Lyric FM, features the Northern Ireland premiere of one of the most popular pieces of modern classical music: Symphony No 3 Op. 36 ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’, written by the acclaimed Polish composer Henryk Górecki. This haunting work will be performed by English soprano Janice Watson with the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Tuomas Ollila.
One of “the most remarkable pianists of the day” (Daily Telegraph), Dmitri Alexeev, will celebrate the Shostakovich anniversary year at the same concert, with a performance of the Russian master’s Piano Concerto No 1 in C minor, Op 35, featuring Paul Young on trumpet.
Distant Light at Clonard Monastery is a musical celebration of three important birthdays - the Ulster Orchestra, which turns 40 this year, 60 year old Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks and Mozart, whose 250th anniversary is being marked in 2006.
The celebrations continue with composer Piers Hellawell, whose 50th birthday is being marked by two festival events. The Schubert Ensemble, one of Britain’s leading exponents of chamber music for piano and strings will perform two of Hellawell’s works at the Great Hall on Wednesday 25th October, while Scandinavia’s leading brass players, the Stockholm Chamber Brass, will perform the World Premiere of of a new Hellawell commission on Thursday 26th October at the Sonic Arts Research Centre.
A special festival BBC Invitation Concert will feature the world premiere of a major new work by Belfast-born composer Deirdre Gribbin. Gribbin wrote Goliath for percussion and orchestra but has used the distinctive drumming patterns of the Lambeg Drum to complement the symphony orchestra. This performance at the Ulster Hall on Sunday 22nd October will also feature virtuoso solo percussionist Colin Currie.
Music
Featuring the hot and spicy sounds of Cuba, the ice cool sounds of Norway, world music hip-hop from the streets of Somalia and a celebration of one Miles Davis’ classic albums, this section has something for everyone.
Prime Cut Productions returns to Old Museum arts centre with the Irish Premiere of Naomi Wallace’s beautiful and haunting play, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, a suspense-filled, coming of age tale about the beauty of the human spirit, while the terror, fear, guilt and desperation felt by two parents who learn that their child has simply disappeared is reflected in The Early Bird, an extraordinary new play by Leo Butler, presented by Ransom Productions.
Dance
Belfast Festival at Queen’s is delighted to welcome two of the world’s great contemporary choreographers, Stephen Petronio and Russell Maliphant, to Northern Ireland.
The evocative signature movement of Stephen Petronio combines with the poetic surge of singer and songwriter Rufus Wainwright and the voices of the Ulster Youth Choir to create Bud Suite and BLOOM, for which Wainwright has written original material which will be performed by the Ulster Youth Choir. In association with the Ulster Tatler and the American Consulate, Stephen Petronio Company will present these works at Stranmillis College Theatre on Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th October.
Described as “one of the most fertile choreographic minds working in Britain today” (The Guardian), the dances of award winning choreographer Russell Maliphant are captivating to watch. Presented in association with Ballygowan mineral water, Transmission (Saturday 21st October, Waterfront Studio), is a piece created for an ensemble of five female dancers.
Spiegeltent – Salon Perdu
Since they were first created in the 1920’s, the magic mirrors of the Spiegeltent have reflected thousands of images of artists, audiences and exotic gatherings and played host to the world’s greatest cabaret artists, musicians and circus burlesque performers. Now the Salon Perdu will transport Belfast audiences into another era with the seductive sounds and smouldering passion of Maria Tecce (Thursday 2nd November), an eclectic mix of urban anthems, sketches, gorgeous girls and earthy sensuality in The Fallen Angels Cabaret (Wednesday 1st November) and Pigeon & Plum's MACAB-ARET (Tuesday 31st October), a Victorian Music Hall Extravaganza featuring the undead vaudeville talents of yester year.
Classical Music
This year’s Closing Concert (Friday 3rd November, Waterfront Hall), presented in association with Robertson Patterson Partnership and RTE Lyric FM, features the Northern Ireland premiere of one of the most popular pieces of modern classical music: Symphony No 3 Op. 36 ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’, written by the acclaimed Polish composer Henryk Górecki. This haunting work will be performed by English soprano Janice Watson with the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Tuomas Ollila.
One of “the most remarkable pianists of the day” (Daily Telegraph), Dmitri Alexeev, will celebrate the Shostakovich anniversary year at the same concert, with a performance of the Russian master’s Piano Concerto No 1 in C minor, Op 35, featuring Paul Young on trumpet.
Distant Light at Clonard Monastery is a musical celebration of three important birthdays - the Ulster Orchestra, which turns 40 this year, 60 year old Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks and Mozart, whose 250th anniversary is being marked in 2006.
The celebrations continue with composer Piers Hellawell, whose 50th birthday is being marked by two festival events. The Schubert Ensemble, one of Britain’s leading exponents of chamber music for piano and strings will perform two of Hellawell’s works at the Great Hall on Wednesday 25th October, while Scandinavia’s leading brass players, the Stockholm Chamber Brass, will perform the World Premiere of of a new Hellawell commission on Thursday 26th October at the Sonic Arts Research Centre.
A special festival BBC Invitation Concert will feature the world premiere of a major new work by Belfast-born composer Deirdre Gribbin. Gribbin wrote Goliath for percussion and orchestra but has used the distinctive drumming patterns of the Lambeg Drum to complement the symphony orchestra. This performance at the Ulster Hall on Sunday 22nd October will also feature virtuoso solo percussionist Colin Currie.
Music
Featuring the hot and spicy sounds of Cuba, the ice cool sounds of Norway, world music hip-hop from the streets of Somalia and a celebration of one Miles Davis’ classic albums, this section has something for everyone.
In BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB ™ presents Cachaito López, ‘Guajiro’ Mirabal, Manuel Galbán, ‘Aguaje’ Ramos, an extraordinary line-up of Buena Vista Social Club™ master musicians together with an 11-piece band direct from Havana, are set to bring audiences to their feet with some of the finest Cuban music ever made, in an event sponsored by J20 at the Whitla Hall on Sunday 22nd October.
Nearly two decades after the release of their international hit single Bamboleo, The Gipsy Kings (Tuesday 31st October, Waterfront Hall) are back in partnership with the Waterfront Hall to seduce the world with their new album, Pasajero, which features raw flamenco, jazzy guitar, Latin rhythms, Cuban pop and even traces of reggae and Arabic music.
American Irish female ensemble Cherish the Ladies (Elmwood Hall, Thursday 26 October) has climbed into the elite band of world folk groups and bring their exquisite voices to the festival for a schools and an evening concerts, with special guests at the evening event including Eddi Reader and fiddler Liz Kane.
Described by the New York Times as “one of the greatest musicians in jazz history”, Joe Lovano leads the Grammy Award-winning Joe Lovano Nonet (Saturday 28th October, Elmwood Hall) through an exploration of the music of Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool and its influences on jazz past, present and future. Equally legendary is composer and pianist Andrew Hill (Elmwood Hall, Friday 3 November) whose albums were true highlights of Blue Note Records’ 1960’s output.
Nashville’s finest alt-country collective Lambchop (Friday 27th October, Mandela Hall) make a long awaited return to Belfast to showcase songs from their rapturously received new album in Damaged – an evening with Lambchop.
The distinguished career of pianist Stan Tracey (Saturday 21st October, Elmwood Hall) has spanned six decades of consistently flourishing creativity. He has been a highly influential and stimulating musical voice, not only to his peers but to each successive generation of musicians with whom he has worked. The music of Norway’s Tord Gustavsen Trio (Wednesday 1st November, Elmwood Hall) is influenced by sources as diverse as early blues, gospels, hymns and Scandinavian folk music. The band is one of the true stars of the celerated ECM label.
A concert by the 13-piece Brian Irvine Ensemble (Friday 20th and Saturday 21st October, Spiegeltent, Custom House Square) is a virtuoso circus of music, the perfect opening gigs for the Spiegeltent. Other musical ingredients of the Spiegeltent musical cocktail include Irish Trad greats Kila (Sat 21st October), the highlight of this year’s WOMAD - Somalian rapper K’Naan (24th October), Yasmin Levy’s electrifying interpretation of Judeo-Spanish song (25th October), Twisted Folk weirdos Tunng (3rd November), Celtic fusion extraordinaires, SWAP (29th October), the latest Irish singer-songwriter sensation, Declan O’Rourke (30th October), Neil Martin’s beautiful West Ocean String Quartet (2 November), and a double bill featuring ‘the Nashville Bjork’, Cortney Tidwell and Bangor’s Ivor Novello award-winning songwriter Iain Archer (4th November).
Visual Arts
Internationally acclaimed photographer Paul Seawright’s photographic investigation into some of the fastest growing cities in urban Africa will be on show at the Naughton Gallery at Queen’s from Thursday 19th October to Saturday 16th December. Invisible Cities features new images of Lagos, Johannesburg, Lusaka and Addis Ababa, and offers a glimpse into the unplanned and often chaotic settlements which flourish on the periphery of these very cities.
Fourteen visual arts venues across Belfast have collaborated to create the Festival Gallery Map - a map featuring details of all the city’s visual arts venues and how to find them - and the Art Card – a sort of loyalty card on which visitors can collect a series of “stamps” at 10 venues, encouraging them to see all the shows across the city and offering the chance to win a series of art-themed prizes. There will also be an Art Treasure Trail for families which will have child-friendly prizes. 15,000 maps and cards will be distributed through the participating galleries. A series of co-ordinated openings – known as Arty Parties – has also devised during the festival to encourage people to make a night of it and visit several galleries together.
BT Talks
As ever, the BT Talks section of the festival programme is bursting at the seams with some of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers and speakers, who will be discussing topics from Manchester United to Guantanamo Bay. The line-up includes Rt Hon Lord Neil Kinnock, broadcaster Clive James, explorer Benedict Allen, author Patrick McCabe, poet Paul Muldoon, Man Booker Prize winning novelist John Banville, Woman’s Hour presenter Sue MacGregor and one of the UK’s great biographers, Claire Tomalin, who will discuss her new book on the life and work of Thomas Hardy.
Magners Comedy
The Belfast Festival at Queen’s is delighted to announce a new 3-year sponsor for its Comedy programme and the hottest line-up of comedic talent seen in any city for a very long time.
Headlining the festival’s first Magners Comedy programme, “the most brilliant stand-up of his generation” (Sunday Telegraph) Ross Noble returns to Belfast to unleash Fizzy Logic, his all-new stand-up show for 2006.
In The Two Faces of Mitchell and Webb, Channel 4’s Peep Show stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb conjure a world inhabited by gritty urban anti-heroes, pantomime space villains and alcoholic snooker commentators, while 2005 Perrier Comedy Award nominees Dutch Elm Conservatoire bring another inventive sketch show, this time set in Prison, to brand new venue The Baby Grand Theatre, Grand Opera House, from Thursday 2nd to Saturday 4th November.
Other unmissable highlights include an ex-communist, ex-wrestler with a shocking pink Mohican starring in Good Wil Hodgson, and Jo Caulfield, “the sort of female stand-up who makes you feel better about female stand-up” (The Times).
Amnesty International presents Stand Up For Justice returns for a fourth year headlined by Jason Byrne (Whitla Hall, Wednesday 1st November), the excellent Andrew Maxwell brings down the house at the Elmwood Hall on Thursday 2nd November, David Benson’s masterful Think No Evil of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams (Saturday 28th October, Waterfront Hall Studio) returns for its 10th anniversary tour and Robin Ince’s Book Club, an amazing cult hit in London and Edinburgh, consists of impassioned readings from bizarre and terrible publications, accordion covers of everything from Goldfrapp to Hall & Oates, the best in stand up comedy, peculiar animations and some rather odd character comedy!
Family
This year’s Family programme includes the first Belfast performance, following a very successful international tour, of Big Telly Theatre Company’s remarkable production of The Little Mermaid at the Grove Leisure Complex from 31 October to 4 November. Cahoots NI presents an enchanting tale of adventure, friendship and very busy bees in a new black light magic show for children, in Dan Gordon’s Only Beelieve at BIHFE from 19-21 October and Shelter will see the Old Museum Arts Centre utterly transformed into a public air raid shelter during World War II (26-28 October). Harry Hill also entertains audiences young and old at the Elmwood Hall on 26 October with the adventures of Tim the Tiny Horse, the pint-sized hero of his first children’s book.
Film – Queen’s Film Theatre
As part of a retrospective celebrating the work of master film composer Bernard Herrmann, the Queen’s Film Theatre will show a selection of his classics, including Martin Scorsese’s Palme d’Or-winning study of urban paranoia, Taxi Driver (revived here for its 30th anniversary); Francois Truffaut’s adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s classic Dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451; and four Sir Alfred Hitchcock classics - North by Northwest, Vertigo, a new print of Rebecca and, just in time for Hallowe’en, Psycho.
Education and Outreach
The festival’s Education and Outreach programme is designed to enable community groups to engage with visiting artists, to enhance their artistic appreciation, unlock creativity and make festival events more generally accessible.
From visual arts, to dance, theatre and animation techniques, a huge range of workshops, post-show discussions, events and activities for schools, youth groups and community groups have been organised to tie in with festival shows including Timon of Athens, Windmill Baby, and the Stephen Petronio Dance Co.
In a brand new initiative for the festival, we are delighted to offer a special Community Group Rate of £5 tickets to selected theatre, music, BT Talks and Magners Comedy events, including comedian Ross Noble, award-winning play Windmill Baby and journalist, author and broadcaster, Clive James.
With support from Translink and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Lottery Fund, Belfast Festival at Queen’s is offering FREE return buses to and from Crackers? for community groups across Northern Ireland. For further information on this and all education and outreach activities, please contact Kresanna Aigner, Audience Development Assistant, on telephone 028 90971358 or email k.aigner@qub.ac.uk
Disability Access Initiatives
The Belfast Festival at Queen’s has led the way in Disability Access initiatives over recent years, and this year is no different! Thanks to Visual Access Northern Ireland, the festival brochure will again be available in Braille and audio formats (CD and tape). There will be a disabled access and viewing area set up at the Crackers? event, full venue disability access information will be available from the festival website and British Sign Language interpretation will be available at selected BT Talks events. Disabled people requiring a personal assistant will be entitled to the concession rate for their chosen event (if applicable) and a special complimentary ticket for their assistant.
For blind and partially sighted people, there will be Audio Described performances of Windmill Baby and The History Boys and there will also be a signed performance of The History Boys on Thursday 2nd November.
For further information on venue access and facilities for disabled patrons, please contact Kresanna Aigner, Audience Development Assistant, on telephone 028 901358 or email k.aigner@qub.ac.uk or visit www.belfastfestival.com
www.belfastfestival.com – Design By Front
With thanks to our partners at Design By Front, the 2006 festival website offers unprecedented levels of interactivity. As well as online booking, full programme, travel, accommodation and hospitality information, the latest festival news, competitions, ticket promotions, this year’s festival site will have its own weblog section, where festival staff, artists and audiences can log on to post their comments and photographs of the latest festival events.
Festival Thanks
Belfast Festival at Queen’s would like to acknowledge the continued support of Queen’s University and the support of its other major funders - Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland National Lottery Fund, Belfast City Council, Celebrate Belfast, Arts and Business, the National Lottery Millennium Commission.
We are grateful for the continued support of our Media Partner the Belfast Telegraph and Official Broadcast Partner BBC Northern Ireland. Continuing their sponsorship of the festival are BT, Ulster Bank, Laganside, Allianz, National Car Rental, Translink and Design By Front. Festival supporters include the Community Relations Council, Lloyds TSB Foundation, PRS Foundation and the American Consulate.
We are delighted to welcome a host of new sponsors including Magners, RTE Lyric FM, Robinson Patterson Partnership, Bank of Ireland, NI Fire and Rescue Service, P&O Irish Sea, Ulster Tatler, Ballygowan mineral water and J20.
Festival partners include the Ulster Orchestra, Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau, Belfast Waterfront Hall, Grand Opera House, Old Museum Arts Centre, Lyric Theatre, Moving on Music and the Ulster Youth Choir.
Booking Information
The programme for the 44th Belfast Festival at Queen’s is available free with today’s copy of the festival’s media partner, the Belfast Telegraph. The brochure will also be available soon from outlets throughout Northern Ireland and full details of all events are also online at www.belfastfestival.com
Tickets for Belfast Festival at Queen’s events are on sale from today from the following outlets:
· Telephone the Festival Box office on 028 90971197 – open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5.30pm.
· Call in to the new festival box office at QFT, 20 University Square – open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm and Saturday 10am to 2pm.
· Book online at www.belfastfestival.com
· Belfast Welcome Centre, 47 Donegall Place – open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 7pm.
· Text Phone 028 90971324.
ENDS.
For further information, artist images and interview requests for all festival events, please contact:
· Sarah Hughes, Communications Officer, on telephone 028 90971398, email s.hughes@qub.ac.uk or mobile 07905 276399.
· Ciaran McKenna, Press Officer, on telephone 028 90971397 or mobile 07791598456
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