Belfast Mela (Mela; Indian - to meet/ gathering) is the annual festival of international culture…read morewhich celebrates traditional arts, dance, music and fun from over thirty countries. Each year the Mela is given different themes which has previously been; Bollywood, Health & Well-Being, Caring for our Environment and Asian Fashion. This year we are being treated to a traditional Indian circus! The event aims to promote the understanding of different cultures and runs workshop and information days relating to this. This year it's being held on Sunday 29th August, 12-6pm on the Great Lawn at Botanic Gardens, Belfast. The festival is organised by ArtEkta (Northern Ireland's leading ethnic arts organisation) and is run entirely by local volunteers. It's hugely popular, having attracted over 50,000 visitors in the past three years. It's a great cause so any support is much welcome. If you wish to find out more information about the festival, email info@belfastmela.org.uk or call 028 9023 1381

This festival is a real gem, and is a welcome addition to the cultural activities of Belfast!It is…read morelocated this year in Botanic Gardens which makes it a central and easily accessible place for all those of Belfast and beyond! To start off, the food is provided by the finest chefs from the restaurants of Northern Ireland. I was there yesterday and I was lucky to sample food from the chefs of La Boca, Mourne Seafood Bar and the Fitzwilliam Hotel. There is a wide range of food to cater to all tastes, including vegetarians. As for the music, it is mainly of the cover band variety, but when the bands are tight and very engaging like Flash Harry and Rumours Of Fleetwood Mac, the lack of originality can be overlooked! There a wide range of pricing plans, ranging from £5 for five sampling tokens and admission in the lunch time hours to the "Premiere Club Taste Fest" package for £50 which gets you entry to every day, 25 food tokens and a free drink of your choice.It is up to you what you need most! I wish this Festival the best of luck and hope it grows stronger in the years to come!

Ok, so positives first:…read more The food! Yummy! There's so much variety and you get to sample food from the best of NI's chefs and restaurants - Belfast's Merchant, Portadown's Yellow Door - they're all there and the food is (generally) divine. The entertainment is also pretty good. Last year when I went it was the Strictly Come Dancing band and two of the dancers (this was great for me - I'm a massive Strictly fan!) and this year, I saw Flash Harry, who are a really very good Queen tribute band. And now the negatives - it's so expensive! You can burn £30 or £40 without thinking, which stings a bit! Actually, that's about the only negative I can think of. I was going to mention the weather, since it was a total wash out, but it seems unfair to use that against them. It's an incredibly well organised event that's well worth going to, even if it will set you back.

Without a doubt Culture Night Belfast is the best night of the year. Despite recent arts cuts…read moreCulture Night was back in September 2015 even bigger and better than before. It's an annual occurrence consisting of a full day of activities. Over 250 free arts events starting at 1pm and running until late. Belfast comes to life on this one day like no other. There's a leisurely, relaxed, bustling vibe throughout the city with most activities happening in the Cathedral Quarter area. Visual art, music, dancing, sword fencing, magicians, street artists, performance art, circus acts, art exhibitions, fire dancers, roller derbies, jugglers, food and drink. There's a bedazzling array of entertainment and it's for all age groups from babies to centenarians. The streets are closed off to traffic and you can grab a drink, a Culture Night brochure and just wander about exploring what's on. It's a magical night. Forget Christmas, Halloween or any other festivity or festival. Nothing compares to Belfast Culture Night - it's the best - I hope it never stops. Here are some of my favourites from CNB15: INKIE art exhibition ~ Ink Monkey art shop Claire Carpenter art exhibition ~ Cafe 31 Faigy art exhibition ~ Assembly Rooms Yarn bombing by Saturday Knit Fever Fire dancing by FirePoise Lumen by Guerilla Shout & DSNT Hit The North Street Art Festival Urban dance by Cypher Sessions Belfast Roller Derby Irish dance ~ Tir na n-Og Dance Group DeLorean Print Cars ~ Belfast Photo Festival

Culture Night Belfast took place for the first time last year, and it got even bigger this year. It…read morebasically involves every arts organisation flinging its doors open to the public for free and as a result, there's a real buzz about the place. It initially started as a Cathedral Quarter event, but was extended a little to include some of South Belfast this year. My understanding is that they want to eventually have Culture Night take place all over the city, which would be some achievement! The events are massively varied - Belfast Film Festival might put on what they call "Bean Bag Cinema", which is where a film is screened in one of the Cathedral Quarter's alleyways, with the audience sitting on Bean Bags. The galleries in the area might put on special shows, artists take to the streets to create something on the night and almost every cafe or restaurant has some sort of live music going on. It's such a great way to remove some of the barriers that stop people getting involved in the arts. Since it's all so relaxed, it's really easy to just go down, have a wander round and see what grabs your attention!

There's always an air of excitement when Belfast Film Festival begins and this year has been no…read moredifferent. With the Northern Irish film Industry booming it seems like this year's festival will be a celebration of the talent that we have on these shores. The Belfast Film Festival organisers are excellent at promoting local venues and businesses. For instance last night I attended a special screening of Network aptly shown in a BBC studio at Balckstaff House. The venue was a perfect compliment to the movie and this is the beauty of The Belfast Film Festival - it provides a cinematic experience. The local promotion didn't stop there as Fratelli's hosted the pre movie drinks. It's fantastic to see a festival and local businesses work together to promote all Belfast has to offer. Venues include QFT, The Black Box and Moviehouse on the Dublin Road. This is the 15th year of The Belfast Film Festival and it's running from 16th April - 25th April - so if you want to see some local talent in the big screen or just want to see some local venues in a different light then look no further.

Belfast Film Festival takes place every year in April for two weeks…read more The programme is usually very varied, so it's hard to describe it exactly. Basically though, you can expect every kind of film; comedy, sci-fi, art house, horror, classic and there's usually a strong local or Irish feel about it too. The movies are screened in venues all over the city, some conventional cinemas and some more unconventional venues (like on a boat going on the Lagan for instance!) For proper film buffs, there are talks and workshops as well. There's generally something for everyone and it's a great chance to see some interesting films in unusual settings. There are also special events that take place during the rest of the year, so it's always worth keeping an eye on the website to see if there's anything on.

It is great to have the Belfast Beer and Cider Festival back on the horizon. As we all know in the…read morewake of smoking regulations and with cheap supermarket booze, our local pubs and brewers have been taking a bashing, so events like this are a real shot in the arm for local brewers. The event used to be held in the Kings Hall complex, but has this year moved to the Ulster Hall after no event being held in 2009.This is a great move as not only will the surroundings be more plush, but it will be in a much more convenient location to draw a bigger crowd in the centre of town! With over 100 beers and ciders available in a range of styles and traditional pub games and live music, the festival is a great night's craic.I am not the biggest beer fan, but I love me some cider, and the time I went with a few pals in 2008 I sampled some of the best cider I ever had, before becoming rather inebriated to put it gently... Ticket prices are £3 in the daytime and £6 in the evenings, with a discounted £2 rate for Campaign For Real Ale members!

We went to Belsonic to see Lizzo and the site that it's on is amazing, plenty of places to buy food…read moreand drink. The stage was massive and could be seen from the whole standing area. Sound was perfect. I would definitely come again to watch an artist.

I only give 1 star purely for alcohol beverages. This place is sponsored by Limelite and does not…read moresell any Gin/Tonic or Soda Water ect. The only alcohol they sell is Tennents £7. Red & White Wine, a glass £8. Vodka and Coke ect & Magners. No price because I didn't purchase. Very disappointed.

This aptly named 'Writer's Square' area of the magnificent St Anne's church courtyard was…read moretransformed for one night only in to a Mecca of arts and culture where various stalls, tents and stands were set up and all displayed their various wares, arts, skills and events all in relation to Culture Night. There were a number of interesting, fun stalls where you could get henna tattoos or get your face painted or pick up information about the various charities and events relating to Culture Night around Cathedral Quarter. There was live music playing throughout the night as well as a miniature stage show from 'Leon and the place Between' which will be debuted at the Belfast Festival at Queens. Any one who missed this night should be well prepared for next year as it seems to be growing and flourishing in to a fantastic event on the Belfast calendar. It was here I discovered the publication 'Belfast Flags of Hope' which is a fascinating and great publication by The Thomas Devlin Fund. This group was set up to commemorate the young school boy (Devlin) who was viciously murdered on his way home from the shop, one summer night, five years ago. The fund provides financial support for teens involved in creative and musical ventures. The 'Flags of Hope' idea was thought up by local artist Raymond Watson who wanted to represent the aspirations of school children in the fight for the hope of a day where sectarianism no longer exists. This scheme touched my heart as I was at school with Dev and I think it's great to see even a glimmer of good coming out of his death.

So pleased that the BBC Good Food Show is in town. It's being held in the newly extended…read moreWaterfront. I went Friday as a guest of Tourism NI and had a good look around and saw our very own Paul Rankin and Paul Hollywood. The layout took a bit of getting used to!! The food exhibitors were really first class and staff very helpful. Day two brought more crowds and I got to see the Hairy Bikers and John Torode do cookery demos in the main auditorium or Super Theatre. Plenty of food and drink to try and buy also lots of gadgets. Last day is Sunday so come on down!!

Holy smoke - I'm impressed! I've been looking forward to attending the first Irish Vegan Festival…read morefor weeks. I knew it would be good but it far exceeded my expectations. Organisers Farplace Animal Rescue did a fantastic job. I pre-bought tickets (only £2 each) and am glad I did as queues for entry were massive. On entering I got a stamp on my wrist so I could leave and return as desired, then spent a lovely few hours wandering around stalls buying and looking. Such an immense selection including cakes, buns, hotdogs, chilli sauces, juices, pies, books, cosmetics and clothing. Many animal charities had stalls too e.g. Hunt Saboteurs, Talk To Me I'm Vegan, Sea Shepherd and 7th Heaven Animal Rescue. Additionally there was a licensed bar, talks, cookery demonstrations and live music. I literally could not ask for more, the festival was a runaway success. I believe the organisers are already planning next years festival in a much bigger venue. A definite date for the diary.

An excellent festival. They should run this every year and thankfully I hear they plan to…read more Pre-booking tickets is a must though, as when we arrived queues were right around to the back of The Ulster Hall. With our tickets we jumped to the top of the queue and gained immediate entry. Once inside we had delicious vegan hotdogs, Vego bars and lots of other sweet treats. I could have spent hours walking around the stalls and unfortunately it was so busy it was difficult to see everything. I would recommend The Irish Vegan festival to everyone. Food, drink, clothing stalls, music and a lively vibe. Very well organised but I would like to see more seating in future.