I would love to review this but I cannot remember when it occurs... Oh that's right! Everyone's…read morefavourite excuse to get drunk ST PATRICK'S DAY! I remember having worked one out of my three Belfast St Patrick's Days which means that all I have to go on is this year's festivities which might I say were terrific, and last year which shall we say became newsworthy for the wrong reasons. SPD (as I have decided to refer to it as because it is becoming too tedious to constantly type it out) in Belfast usually guarantees you drunk people, primarily students, and a tentative atmosphere for most people. In the city centre however, they do insist on trying to cater for young ones by having parades and a concert featuring all of the classic Irish themed acts of the year - most notably Eoghan Quigg... from the X Factor... still nothing? Unfortunately with drunken revelry there often comes drunken behaviour and that has not been more evident than last year's riots which made news around the world. The was a strange atmosphere around Belfast's student quarter and since that behaviour, St Patrick's Day has become a much more family friendly, police orientated day with many more cars and riot police patrolling the student areas. Away from the student area you are guaranteed to find leprechaun themed events all over the city and while it may never be as popular or as well behaved as Dublin, at least it is still a bit of craic.

St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland and the saint whose special day causes most people in…read moreIreland, both north and south to get drunk. The 17th of March gathers a sea of green into the city centre where a festival is held to celebrate the history of St. Patrick and the culture he brought to Ireland. The crowds are usually of varying age but you will find two extremes from the 'drunken' teens slurring and wobbling on the pavements to the family with young children trying to enjoy the day. The yearly parade is the best part of the festival as local pipe and accordion bands play traditional tunes along the streets of Belfast. This is a great event for families and tourists and rarely brings much trouble. Each year after the parades, a concert is held to try and entertain the crowds into the late afternoon and evening. However this is usually headlined by a Z list celebrity who lip syncs through a lack lustre performance, but it is free so we can't really complain! All in all, if you have nothing better to do to celebrate St Patrick's Day it's worth a shot.

Pigstock is a festival that is really up and coming on the Northern Ireland Calendar, and with its…read morewonderful name why shouldn't it! The festival has been running for the last 3 years, and each year has seen a step up in both the professionalism and popularity of the event. At what other festival around does part of the admission fee help fund the open fire pig roast for everyone to feast on to line their stomach before the inevitable drink and moshing bonanza that will end up having your stomach acting like it is blender? The music showcases the best of local Northern Irish bands, both established and up and coming, with last year including local stalwarts A Plastic Rose and the great newbies Key Of Atlas! You can either camp or go just for the music, but for only a fiver more and a whole nights more rowdy banter, the only choice has to be the camping! My good friend Jamie's uncle helps run this and there is so much passion here for local music, I can;t recommend it enough.Be warned though, if you are looking for a good night's sleep head elsewhere: this one gets rowdy! So my advice next May is to get yourself down to Pigstock and you will be as happy as a Pig in...... well, you know the rest!

A real collectic mix of music, food, spoken word, comedy a discussion. Parking is £5. #SFF17read more

Sunflower Fest was a brand new event on the Northern Ireland festival calendar , providing…read morefantastic weekend of live music, arts and great food in a hospitable atmosphere, which is more than can be said for a lot of festivals! It must also be said that the festival also had a wonderful cause, with all profits going to rebuilding Haiti after the devastating earthquake. Held over three-days, the focus was on showcasing some of Northern Ireland's finest bands and artists. The festival had two stages - one outdoors and the other indoor. There was a real variety of acts of all types and genres, with personal local favourites of mine Sweet Savage, Rams Pocket RADIO and Mental Deficiency showing their funky faces! The festival continued its ethical edge by encouraging as many people as possible to cycle to the festival, thought a lot of people like me had too far to travel and not enough time to journey down there, but maybe next year! Tickets were £28 for the entire weekend which was fantastic value, with individual day tickets all within a few pounds radius of £10. This was a really well run festival that had real heart, so I look forward to seeing how they build on things next year!

This place has a lot of functions to do with different community projects. However, it's best known…read morefor being the ticket office for all events at the West Belfast Festival, a.k.a. Féile an Phobail, a.k.a. the "Fla". Every year, for about a week and a half, there's a festival organised which starts at the end of July. It's reputedly the biggest community festival in Europe, and attracts tourists from far and wide. It has a whole host of events - live music gigs; lectures; comedy nights; photographic/art exhibitions; debates... the list goes on, and the events are held in a huge variety of venues from schools and community centres to pubs and marquees. It's amazing how many visitors this attracts every year.

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

What a fascinating place just across from the Guild Hall. We saw three fabulous exhibitions for the…read moreprincely sum of £2.40 each. The first exhibition, the tv comedy Derry Girls - which has taken the world by storm - and even had Ms Chelsea Clinton in a cameo role. And the line 'Protestants don't like Abba' that made me laugh aloud. Oh I've never met anybody who doesn't like ABBA. Exhibition 2 The history of Derry from Stone Age about 10,000 years ago to date including a documentary film. Exhibition 3 An Armada shipwreck with cannon and weapons recovered from the wreckage. It's a few hours to do the exhibitions seriously and the staff, like all the citizens of this scarred city of survivors are so damn friendly and genuinely warm. Of course I recommend it like I recommend staying in this city for at least 3 nights.

Definitely, a must-visit, the Tower Museum is a great attraction just within the historic Derry…read moreWalls where we enjoyed learning about the city's history and panoramic views from the rooftop. The staff was very friendly as we purchased our tickets and made our way through the exhibits, with the main one we saw being "The Story of Derry". We didn't get around to touring the Armada Shipwreck exhibit that's on the second through fourth floors but did make our way to the top floor where we had an open-air panoramic view of the city around us.

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!

Belfast Fringe Festival is being arranged this year for the first time ever! After a round up of…read morepublic support and petitions the Belfast Festival is now including its very own Fringe element. This is in support of local artists/performers/ singers, comedians/ poets, circus performers, anything and everything at all! The aim is to provide a non-censored, accessible, and available to all festival for the people of Belfast and beyond. Hopefully this year we will gather support for the Fringe cause and then be able to set up a permanent society which represents all of the arts. Come show your support for this fantastic cause from 14th-17th October 2010. In their own poetic words; Sample from a buffet of sumptuous offerings, delivered by a collection of Northern Irish artistes given full rein to dish up a portion of their finest creations. You will be dazzled by the unfettered creativity which is unleashed.'

Set in Delamont Park near Strangford Lough (the sound blasted loud and clear down by the Lough…read moreaccording to people who were there), Willowstone has a nice intimate little setting, a Walled Garden, an art areas (throwing paint is very therapeutic) and a stage shaped like a castle! It is a really great place for a festival, and this year really built on the success of the first year with great local acts like Panama Kings and Cashier No. 9, and local heros the Answer headlining. The tickets are reasonably priced, with £32 for a nights camping very reasonable! There is a nice relaxed and unpretentious vibe; everyone is here to have a good time together, not to pose and cause trouble! I would like to take this opportunity to remind you all to practice safe sun while festivaling- wear sunscreen and a hat, enjoy the shade and drink water! As for the other safety tips for visits, adhere to the wise words of the famous Tim Westwood- strap it up before you slap it up!