Decision from Stormont not to fund Culture Night 'disappointing'

Green Party Councillor Áine Groogan said this year will be the first year with a new look for Culture Night in Belfast

It is "disappointing" that Stormont departments will not provide any funding to Culture Night in Belfast this year, a councillor has said.

It comes as the popular cultural event is returning to Belfast after a six year hiatus, but with a smaller scale "new look".

Belfast City Council has committed £150,000 for the delivery of the festival, which takes place on 19 September.

In May the council approached both the Department for Communities (DfC) and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) asking them to consider supporting the festival, but both departments have now said there is no spare money to do so.

At a meeting of the council's City Growth and Regeneration Committee on Thursday night, elected representatives were given an update on plans for this year's event.

They were told that a letter from a representative of the DfC said: "The Department does not have any funding streams available, which I appreciate will be disappointing."

Green Party Councillor Áine Groogan said it would be "very short sighted for the Department for Communities not to see the benefit that Culture Night brings and not invest in it long-term".

She hopes Stormont will provide funding in years to come.

"This will be the first year with a new look for culture night and I'm excited to see how it will grow in the coming years," she said.

'Window into the arts sector'

Groogan described art as a public good, that can do wonders for the night time economy.

"There's so much more to the arts sector than just Culture Night, but Culture Night is a window into it," she added.

Groogan also urged the DfI to confirm if Translink would offer a night-time service for Culture Night, which could provide something to work towards building a long-term night time service.

In a letter responding to the council on transport services for the event, the Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins said she understands that "Translink are working with the City Council to develop a support plan" and "welcome that both organisations are continuing to work together to ensure that people will be able to travel to and from the event by public transport".

Culture night in Belfast started in 2009, and grew in scale with the 2019 event attracting over 100,000 people to the city centre.

The event received the majority of its support from the Arts Council NI, The Executive Office, Department for Communities and Tourism NI alongside support from trusts and the private sector.

It was managed by the Cathedral Quarter Trust.

In 2019, the budget was over £328,000 according to notes from the Belfast City Growth and Regeneration Committee.

Culture Night was suspended in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and never returned in its former capacity.

The new Culture Night will not programme street-based events and will concentrate on venue-based events with more community involvement.

The power of the arts

Organiser Adam Turkington says those organising Culture Night had to start from scratch after a six year hiatus

Adam Turkington was involved in the organisation of Culture night between 2011 and 2016.

He told BBC News that his return to organising this years events have been like a "sprint to the finish".

"If you don't do something for a while you have to start over, essentially."

In April it was announced Belfast Culture Night would return this year.

Councillors then agreed to launch a public procurement exercise to deliver the 2025 Culture Night programme up to the value of £150,000, considerably more than Belfast Council previously contributed.

"We had to start from scratch, and we only started organising in June," he said.

He said this year is about putting culture "back on the map".

He said the ability of the event to "transform the city, even just for one night, was inspirational. It shows 'this is the power of the arts'".

Culture Night has previously taken place in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter

In a statement, Belfast City Council said: "Due to timescales and budget, the 2025 event will be smaller in scale than previous years and limited to venue-based events, with the main focus being on the creative sector."

The Department for Infrastructure and Department of Communities were contacted for comment.