the 2025 festival

2025 Festival Highlights

From 24-30 March 2025, we were delighted to present our 11th annual festival involving 121 events and 308 speakers & performers in 50 venues across Belfast attracting an audience of 17,377 in-person attendees and estimated 4,223 online viewers.

56% of our events were free as the festival rolled out an eclectic mix of film, humour, talks, music, poetry, podcasts, theatre, exhibitions, tours, discussions and workshops. This year we featured keynote artists and speakers exploring a wide range of political themes and they included: Cory Doctorow, Lemn Sissay, Jo Caulfield, David Baddiel, Alison Spittle, Matt Forde, artist-in-residence Erin Fornoff, Roman Krznaric, Inua Ellams, Andy Zaltzman, Sinead Morrissey, and two productions by the Colorado-based theatre company TINTS.

The festival also included a number of tours, exhibitions, quizzes, live music and talks from a range of experts exploring the big issues of our time.

The festival explored the theme ‘Helping You Make Sense of a Crazy World’ – encouraging people to stop scrolling and start thinking; and we programmed a greater number of events designed to engage younger people, the LGBTQIA+ community and the global majority.

This strand included a series of events examining the relationship between music and activism, particularly ska and reggae; a special focus on artistic expression in a digital age and the constant barrage of modern media on our thinking and habits; and the intersection of the climate crisis and growing inequality and injustice across society.

Most of our events were suggested and created in collaboration with the public and long-standing partners. We held a public consultation in October 2024 to help develop the programme and we were delighted with such a high-quality response.

In developing this festival, we hoped to deliver the following outcomes, and we are pleased to confirm that we exceeded these projections:

1. A greater appreciation, understanding and exchange by people and communities in Northern Ireland and beyond of local and international political, cultural and reconciliation issues through the organisation of over 100 talks, debates, training workshops, performances and exhibitions.
2. Greater public support for reconciliation, cultural diversity, civic activism and deliberative politics in Belfast and Northern Ireland through our festival programme.
3. The promotion of good relations, cultural diversity and the participation of under-represented groups in civic society through the organisation of festival activities, public participation events, blogs and workshops.
4. The greater facilitation of political and cultural discussion through the engagement of at least 200 keynote speakers and performers sharing perspectives and learning on a range of contentious and difficult issues such as dealing with the legacy of the past, diversity issues, the climate crisis and other keynote issues.

We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the festival through an audience survey involving 510 returns. Our survey found that 97% of respondents felt the festival satisfied their expectations. It was particularly pleasing to find that 54% of audience members were attending a festival event for the first time and 40% of the sample had never been to the festival venue before, which confirms that we were able to reach new audiences and introduce them to new venues and partners. We also asked whether respondents considered themselves to be disadvantaged and found that 22% of the sample considered themselves to fall into this category which suggests were able to significantly engage with vulnerable and less well-off sections of the community.

We also found that 13% of our sample were visiting Belfast/Northern Ireland with 5% stating they lived in Ireland, 4% came from GB, 2% from rest of Europe and 2% from rest of world. For these ‘out of state’ visitors, 23% said that attending the festival was the main reason for their visit to Belfast.

We are also delighted with the quality of the performances in our programme, confirmed by audience feedback and media reviews. We received record media coverage, and our speakers and performers were very appreciative of the platform we were able to provide for them.

Summary (Figures in brackets refer to corresponding statistics for the 2024 festival)

• Total audience: 21,600 including 17,377 in person attendees and an estimated 4,223 online
• Audience feedback: 98% of survey respondents felt the festival satisfied their expectations (98% in 2024)
• New audience members: 54% (50%) of respondents were attending a festival event for the first time and 40% (42%) of the sample had never been to the venue before
• Visitors: 13% (13%) of attendees came from outside Northern Ireland. Of these, 23% (18%) stated the festival was the main reason they were visiting Belfast.
• Audience spend: 27% of those surveyed responded to this question, with most of these having spent between £20-39 attending our events (£10-19), and 7% reported they spent over £99.
• Number of events: 121 (130) with another four cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control. Three were virtual or hybrid.
• Number of performers/speakers: 308 (376)
• Number of festival partners: 49 (64)
• Number of international participants: 29 (31) including Greece, Palestine & USA
• Number of free events: 68 (85) – 56% (65%) of total events
• Average ticket price: £4.40 (£4.80)
• Number of venues used: 50 (44)
• Media coverage: A major increase in coverage with total number of clips 155 (146), reach: 5,435,779 (6,475,507), circulation 1,310,615 (809,969), visits 50,348,068 (6,666,696) with a total PR Value: £729,445.68 (1,375,456.53).
• Ticket income: £17,700 (£18,387) provisional
• Total income: £175,066 (£142,381) provisional
• Total expenditure: £154,705 (£122,920) provisional
• Surplus: £20,361 (£19,461) provisional

The festival is designed to celebrate and support the role of the citizen in the cultural and political life of Belfast. Aimed at engaging people in political/cultural discussion and debate in the broadest sense, it also encourages participation from people not normally involved in politics. The festival is not aligned with any political party or particular interest group, and this was successfully communicated to the public.

This year’s festival was organised by an advisory group of approximately 49 partners and delivered by Imagine Belfast Ltd. and new Festival Director Mags White-O’Kane, with the assistance of Peter O’Neill as Executive Producer and a dedicated team of trustees and volunteers. The organisation is registered under the Companies Act 2006, as a private company, limited by guarantee (Company number N1614137) and is also registered with HMRC and the Charity Commission Northern Ireland (NIC101004). We are members of NICVA, Visit Belfast, Arts & Business NI, British Arts Festivals Association, European Festivals Association, the International Democracy Festivals Association and the Belfast Festivals Forum.

Mission: The mission of the festival is to provide high-quality showcases for the discussion of contemporary political and societal issues including new ideas on politics, culture and activism.

Aims: To organise an inspiring annual programme of performance, discussion and debate.

• To encourage the participation of under-represented groups in political/cultural debate and discussion.
• To stimulate reflection and discussion on difficult and controversial issues.
• To promote free speech, good relations, cultural diversity and equality.