Belfast: The sounds of the city during Covid lockdowns

During the coronavirus pandemic, cities throughout the world emptied as lockdown restrictions were implemented.

A PhD student from Queen’s University Belfast used this time to make recordings for his final research project.

Georgios Varoutsos used his daily lockdown walks to record the sounds of Belfast city centre.

Like many cities throughout the UK, Belfast had previously been dominated by the sound of human activity. During lockdown, these were replaced by subtle industrial, urban and natural sounds.

The results can be listened to by downloading the free Echoes app and it was showcased as part of the 2022 Northern Ireland Science Festival.

BBC News NI merged Georgio’s sound files with drone footage taken in Belfast city centre during and after lockdown.

Video journalist: Niall McCracken