Get your toes tapping at the brilliant Belfast TradFest

Belfast TradFest (21–28 July) will feature an exciting programme of concerts, talks, pub sessions, céilís (communal dancing) and workshops as well as Ireland’s fastest growing summer school of traditional music. The festival celebrates the cultural diversity of the different traditions in Northern Ireland.  

This year’s headliners include some of the biggest names in traditional music with concerts by Bow Brothers, Mary Dillon performing with Dónal O’Connor and Neil Martin, and Lúnasa. The exuberant Cherish the Ladies, who hail from America, will also be in concert. And the recently formed BIIRD, an 11-piece, all female, superstar collective made up of some of Ireland's best traditional musicians and singers will make their debut Irish performance at Belfast TradFest. 

In a series of masterclasses spanning 20 traditional instruments, the unaccompanied singing style sean nós and set dancing, people of all ages will get the chance to learn from internationally renowned performers. 

Across the city, there will be a party atmosphere with lively sessions in pubs and clubs, céilís and impromptu outdoor performances.  

Belfast TradFest welcomes world-class musicians to the city twice yearly for a weekend in February and a week each July. But at any time of the year, you can dip into Belfast’s rich musical heritage that has made it a UNESCO City of Music. A great way to do this is on one of the music walking tours of the city.  

The Belfast Traditional Music Trail takes you through the city’s cobbled alleyways and past landmark buildings where you will learn a little of Belfast’s history. It stops at several pubs where you are treated to a performance of traditional tunes, songs and stories, while enjoying a drink.  

The Belfast Music Walking Tour explores the music and influence of many of Northern Ireland’s most famous musicians such as Van Morrison and James Galway and delves into the city’s pop, punk, rock and electronic sounds.  The tour stops in the city’s oldest pub, Kelly’s Cellars, the city’s oldest church, First Presbyterian Rosemary Street, passes modern music venues, record shops, outdoor venues and a Victorian Music Hall. 

And the Belfast Punk Music Walking Tour takes you to the heart of Belfast’s punk scene in the 1970s, including visiting the site where the Terri Hooley’s Good Vibrations music store once stood, made famous in more recent years through the Good Vibrations movie.  

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