Lottery draw for free Van Morrison concert tickets

A total of 2,000 tickets for the free Van Morrison concert will be available to the public

Free tickets for a Van Morrison concert, staged to celebrate the singer being granted the freedom of his native Belfast, will be drawn from a lottery.

The 68 year old is due to be conferred with the honour on 15 November, and later that evening he will perform a free gig at Belfast's Waterfront Hall.

A total of 2,000 tickets will be made available.

Members of the public can apply online or in person at the Waterfront from 10:00 BST on Tuesday 22 October.

Applications can be made on both the Belfast City Council and Waterfront Hall websites, and applications will be open until 17:00 BST on Wednesday, 30 October.

'Global status'

A computerised draw will ensure a spread of people from different parts of the city will be successful, said Belfast City Council.

Winners will receive two tickets each.

A council spokesperson said: "The one-off concert at the Waterfront Hall is being held to mark Belfast City Council conferring the Freedom of the City on the legendary musician to mark his remarkable global status and contribution to the city where he was born."

Councillors unanimously agreed to grant the accolade following a vote last month.

The following day, Morrison released a statement of thanks, saying he was "delighted and honoured" to receive the freedom of his native city.

He said: "Belfast is my home. It is where I first heard the music that influenced and inspired me, it is where I first performed and it is somewhere I have referred back to many times in my song-writing over the past fifty years."

Morrison, known affectionately to fans as "Van the Man", was brought up in the east of the city.

He references several of the city's streets and landmarks in his lyrics, including Cypress Avenue, Sandy Row and his family home in Hyndford Street.