Belfast Music City
Belfast has been doubling as a muse and music city for a long time. Its music hall of fame makes for a long and sweet-sounding corridor with the likes of Ruby Murray at one end and Snow Patrol and Duke Special at the other. The granddaddy of them all, though, is Van ‘the Man’ Morrison – he of epic tunes that you can’t get through a wedding set or Top 100 Songs Ever list without – think ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ and ‘Have I Told You Lately’. Van started in the same era as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones – and he’s still making music today. That’s almost an album a year for forty-five years. He’s influenced everyone from U2 to Rod Stewart to Elton John. And he has influenced his hometown of Belfast.
Van never forgot where he came from. From writing songs about Belfast streets (‘Cyprus Avenue’) to performing the East Belfast Arts festival (where he was born), you can take the man outta Belfast, but you can’t take Belfast outta the man. Which makes it very exciting to hear that Van is back. He’ll play two intimate concerts in Belfast’s history-in-its-bones Europa Hotel. It’s all part of the 50th Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s this autumn, and you’re going to want to be there.
Have we told you lately that we’re excited?
Belfast Hot Offers
Belfast Hot Offers
- Midweek One Night Dinner Bed and Breakfast £120
- Back in Belfast £160
- Spring Rejuvenate Package £180
- Sumptuous Sundays £180
- Midweek Two Nights Bed and Breakfast plus one Dinner £175
- The Fitzwilliam Hotel Belfast £111
- Explore Belfast and the Victorian Crumlin Road Gaol £15.50
- Pour Your Own Pint of Guinness Session £10
- Explore the City-Relax in the Country £160
- Explore Belfast and the Victorian Crumlin Road Gaol £15.50
Belfast Top Spots
This city has a lot more than music up its sleeve. This is Titanic town after all. Hard to believe it was built here one hundred years ago – until you walk the history yourself in the dry dock and the spectacular Titanic Belfast experience. Immerse yourself in the treasure trove of the Ulster Museum, from Egyptian Mummies to dinosaurs. Belfast’s modern history is also told in wall murals that are an inherent part of public art. Take a spin of the murals and the city with local commentary on a Belfast Black Taxi tour. Then catch a show in the new MAC theatre or the Lyric – where Liam Neeson started out.
NI 2012
You’ve popped in at exactly the right time. 2012 is THE year for Northern Ireland. It’s a history-in-the-making, party-on-the-pavements kind of deal. The celebrations range from massive festivals to arty parties to much-anticipated openings. We’d been waiting for years for the curtains opening on the new Titanic Belfast experience and the Giant’s Causeway visitor centre – and we’re still swooning at the grandness of it all. There’ll be Days Like This alright, but only for the rest of 2012 – so do not miss it.
Getting Here
’It's a long way to Belfast city too’ said Van. Maybe when he wrote ‘Saint Dominic's Preview’, but not now. Getting to Belfast is easy. There are three main airports in Northern Ireland; Belfast International, George Best Belfast City, and City of Derry Airport. Ferries link us to England and Scotland – you’ll be coast to coast from Scotland to Northern Ireland in an hour! A well-linked road and rail network makes Belfast and Dublin only two hours apart.
