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Vendors are mostly the craftspeople, bakers, fishers and farmers who grew, caught or created what they are selling, and they are happy to chat about their wares. Though the market, situated in a Victorian building, is a mainstay of the Belfast townscape, the goods on offer are cyclical. The kitchen is partially open to the dining floor, creating a sense of theater within its urbane confines, while the mixologists pay as much attention to detail for the cocktails as the chefs exercise toward the food. Guinness is served on tap in the beer tents, while The Errigle Inn and The Pavillion (sometimes called the Big House) bars on nearby Ormeau Rd are popular haunts for prematch tipples and postmatch celebratory toasts. Northern Ireland has a rich sporting heritage, and watching one of the local professional teams in action is an exhilarating way to kick off a night on the town. At the same complex, Banana Block is an innovative commercial and community events space in a former linen mill.
South Belfast
What is sometimes referred to as the Catholic equivalent of the Orangemen, the much smaller Ancient Order of Hibernians, confines its parades to nationalist areas in west and north Belfast, as do republicans commemorating the Easter Rising. While some local feeder and return marches have a history of sectarian disturbance, in recent years, events have generally passed off without serious incident. It has grown from its original August Féile on the Falls Road, to a year-round programme with a broad range of arts events, talks and discussions. The city has a number of community arts, and arts education, centres, among them the Crescent Arts Centre in south Belfast, the Irish-language Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich in west Belfast, The Duncairn in north Belfast and, in the east of the city, EastSide Arts. Inspired by the tradition of military tattoos, it features performances from pipe bands, military and civilian musicians, dancers, and cultural groups from Northern Ireland and around the world. It is generally understood as an area around the Falls Road in west Belfast served by the Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich cultural centre.
- Meanwhile, road schemes, including the terminus of the M1 motorway and the Westlink, demolished a mixed dockland community, Sailortown, and severed the streets linking the Shankill area and the rest of both north and west Belfast to the city centre.
- The Victorian market opens Friday to Sunday and is the place to go for fresh produce, ‘street-food’ dining, live music and of course shopping for gifts and gadgets.
- Further emboldened by the French Revolution, a more radical element in the town, the Society of United Irishmen, called for Catholic emancipation and a representative national government.
The SCENEic Route
The Belfast Marathon is run annually on May Day, The 41st Marathon in 2023, with related events (Wheelchair Race, Team Relay and 8 Mile Walk) attracted 15,000 participants. The 100-acres of Ormeau Park were opened to the public in 1871 on what was the last demesne of the town’s former proprietors, the Chichesters, Marquesses of Donegall. Introduced in 2018, it is a bus rapid transit system linking East Belfast, West Belfast and the Titanic Quarter from the City Centre. In addition to its extensive freight business, the Belfast Port offers car-ferry sailings, operated by Stena Line, to Cairnryan in Scotland (5 Sailings Daily. 2 hours 22 minutes) and to Liverpool-Birkenhead (14 sailings weekly. 8 hours).
Early settlements
Sadly this local hero met an untimely death after being hit by a lorry but he is now immortalised in this lovely piece of street art. The Victorian market opens Friday to Sunday and is the place to go for fresh produce, ‘street-food’ dining, live music and of course shopping for gifts and gadgets. But we guess you didn’t come to Belfast for Vietnamese or Thai food? Experience an authentic black cab tour of Belfast and discover the murals and unique characters of both the nationalist and unionist communities. We often find that a city bus tour is the best thing to do on arrival at any destination so that you can quickly get oriented and Belfast taxi belfast is no exception to the rule. Over the years we’ve visited Titanic Belfast a number of times and while we’ve been impressed, our recent visit to the upgraded experience left us both awed and even a little bit emotional.
Belfast’s modern history began in 1611 when Baron Arthur Chichester built a new castle there. The city’s name is derived from the Gaelic Béal Feirste (Mouth of the Sandbank or Crossing of the River). A castle, probably built there about 1177 by John de Courci, the Norman conqueror of Ulster, seems to have survived until the beginning of the 17th century.
It can be said to include, at the Skainos Centre in unionist east Belfast, Turas, a project that promotes Irish through night classes and cultural events in the belief that "the language belongs to all". After such a busy day of sights, sounds and the finest food, you’ll need the finest place to stay. Spend a lively time in the heart of the city’s vibrant clubbing hotspot and LGBTQIA+ hub. In celebration of the city’s cultural diversity, this festival features parades, concerts, markets and more.
The Blitz and post-war development
At the end of the Second World War, the Unionist government undertook programmes of "slum clearance" (the Blitz had exposed the "uninhabitable" condition of much of the city’s housing) which involved decanting populations out of mill and factory built red-brick terraces and into new peripheral housing estates. In the greatest loss of life in any air raid outside of London, more than a thousand people were killed. In addition to the shipyards and the Short & Harland aircraft factory, the Belfast Blitz severely damaged or destroyed more than half the city’s housing stock, and devastated the old town centre around High Street. Until "troubles" returned at the end of the 1960s, it was not uncommon in Belfast for the Ulster Unionist Party to have its council and parliamentary candidates returned unopposed. Industry drew in a new Catholic population settling largely in the west of the town—refugees from a rural poverty intensified by Belfast’s mechanisation of spinning and weaving and, in the 1840s, by famine. While other Irish towns experienced a loss of manufacturing, from the 1820s Belfast underwent rapid industrial expansion.
Spend 48 hours immersed in Belfast’s maritime history as you follow this Titanic trail. The friendliness of the people is what’s most appealing in this small and very walkable city The New York Times Welcome to Belfast’s oldest library, a historic landmark famous for its exhibitions, classes and events. This historic Victorian market sits at the heart of Belfast’s buzzing contemporary food scene.
