Aside from the usual range of cinemas and entertainment venues like the Grand Opera House, Lyric Theatre, Waterfront Hall, Ulster Hall, Group Theatre and the biggest and newest venue, Odyssey Arena, Belfast buzzes with live music. Most bars have some free live music, from jazz on Saturdays to traditional sessions during the week and cover bands at weekends. Paying venues which are worth a look are the Empire Music Hall on Botanic Avenue with a large performance area upstairs in an old church building and a basement bar which has a regular comedy club on Tuesday nights. A young bohemian crowd queues round the block to get into the venue which gave TV presenter Patrick Kielty his first break.
On Ormeau Avenue on the next block from the BBC’s Belfast operation, three live music venues cluster in the Limelight complex. Katy Daly’s tends towards a younger crowd, as does the Limelight, a cool club with a dishevelled air which hosted gigs early in the careers of Oasis, Pulp and Suede. It is supplemented by the new Spring & Air-brake, an old car supplies store which has a fine new performance area, aimed at the 30-something music-lover. Further from the city centre, Ormeau Road’s Errigle Inn hosts the Real Music Club’sThursday night gigs which see the best UK and US singer-songwriters playing to packed houses. The Belfast docks area, now re-born as Laganside, has two small music bars Pat’s Bar and The Rotterdam, which can normally squeeze in a visitor or two in beside their loyal local following. In winter the Rotterdam has a turf fire blazing beside its tiny bar.
On the Falls Road, Culturlann is the Irish language venue, which has a bookshop, café, gallery and performance space.
It operates a simultaneous translation system for plays in Gaelic.
In south Belfast the King’s Head has a superb selection of Sunday jazz artists programmed, as well as contemporary music earlier in the weekend. It’s an attractive cabaret-style acoustic lounge. Artistically, the city is well catered for with the Ormeau Baths Gallery contemporary art venue. The Ulster Museum houses rich collections of art, archaeology, local history and natural sciences, as well as interesting temporary exhibitions. It also has an engineering hall which chronicles Northern Ireland’s industrial heritage. More of this can be found at the Folk and Transport Museum about six miles from the city centre. There, traditional Ulster cottages and farmhouses have been rebuilt stone by stone in a rural setting, while everything from penny-farthing bicycles to the DeLorean sports car are on display in the Transport Museum. Yes, the Back to the Future seagull-winged vehicle was another made-in-Belfast invention, along with Dunlop’s rubber bicycle tyre. A railway stop at Cultra drops the traveller off just outside the museum from central Belfast.
Excursions
The Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau is the starting place for planning any kind of trip. It is located above the shops in Belfast’s main shopping street (47 Donegall Place, Tel: 9024 6609, Website: www.gotobelfast.com). Northern Ireland is relatively small and easily accessible for day trips, from the natural wonders of the hexagonal stones of the North Coast’s Giant’s Causewayto the environmentalist’s paradise of Strangford Lough and the small fishing villages of the Ards Peninsula.
Within Belfast, a trip down The Lagan in a river taxi, or a ride on one of the city’s double-decker sightseeing buses is a diverting way to spend a couple of hours. There are also black-taxi Troubles Tours, which can be arranged through the Visitor Centre. These are a colourful way of learning about the history and character of local life, from the mouth of an expert taxi driver with a droll Belfast sense of humour; they are a very popular way of seeing a different side of the city. Fares vary, from £10-£20, but should be determined in advance. Belfast is very much a pedestrian city and there is no better way of seeing it than a simple stroll.