The 2026 Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas marked a significant milestone in our history, building on the ambitious trajectory of previous years with an expanded roster of headliners and a vibrant, city-wide presence. In my second year as Director, our mission continued to evolve from discussing ideas to actively championing the new voices living them. By handing the microphone to those often disenfranchised from political discourse, we ensured that our stages remained a true reflection of the diverse communities we serve.
This year’s programme was defined by a deep-rooted sense of ownership, with over 70% of our content generated directly by community groups, artists, and creative collectives. We hope this reinforced the festival’s role as a vital, accessible platform where culture and politics intersect. The palpable ‘buzz’ felt across the city is a testament to the collaborative efforts of our dedicated team, partners, and the strategic guidance of our Board of Trustees.
As we look back on 2026, we celebrate a year of significant growth and deepened engagement. By successfully increasing our reach, we have strengthened the fabric of the festival, ensuring it remains a unique and essential space for meaningful social impact. Following this period of vibrant activity, we remain committed to evolving our influence and continuing to provide a stage for the ideas that shape our collective future.
Mags White-O’Kane, Festival Director
2026 Festival Highlights
From 23-29 March 2026, we were delighted to present our 12th annual festival involving 133 events and 366 speakers & performers in 56 venues across Belfast attracting an audience of 13,795 in-person attendees and estimated 4,490 online viewers.
64% of our events were free or pay what you can as the festival rolled out a diverse programme of film, comedy, talks, music, poetry, podcasts, theatre, exhibitions, tours, discussions and workshops. This year we featured keynote artists and speakers exploring a wide range of political and cultural themes including Tommy Tiernan, Mhairi Black, Adam Kay, Eleanor Tiernan, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Len Pennie, artist-in-residence Peterson Toscano, Dan Donelly and rarewitch.
The festival also included workshops, debates, quizzes, public gatherings and a series of free drop-in music performances at HALT, delivered in partnership with LQ BID throughout the week.
The festival explored the theme ‘Thou Shalt Not Have No Idea’ encouraging community connection and shared experience as a counter to ambivalence and misinformation; and we programmed a greater number of events designed to engage younger people, the LGBTQIA+ community and the global majority.
We continued our examination of the relationship between music and activism, particularly hip hop and jazz; presented events around the theme of censorship in the arts; and collaborated with more community organisers than ever before to present a truly citizen focused programme.
Over 70% of our events were suggested and created in collaboration with the public and long-standing partners. We held a public consultation in October 2025 to help develop the programme and we were delighted with such a high-quality response.
We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the festival through an audience survey involving 308 returns. Our survey found that 95% of respondents felt the festival satisfied their expectations. It was particularly pleasing to find that 58% of audience members were attending a festival event for the first time and 41% 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 20% 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 15% of our sample were visiting Belfast/Northern Ireland with 4% stating they lived in Ireland, 2% came from GB, 4% from rest of Europe and 1% from rest of world. For these ‘out of state’ visitors, 19% 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 2025 festival)
- Total audience: 18,285 including 13,795 in person attendees and an estimated 4,490 online
- Audience feedback: 95% of survey respondents felt the festival satisfied their expectations
- New audience members: 58% (54%) of respondents were attending a festival event for the first time and 41% (40%) of the sample had never been to the venue before
- Visitors: 15% (13%) of attendees came from outside Northern Ireland. Of these, 19% (23%) stated the festival was the main reason they were visiting Belfast.
- Audience spend: 23% of those surveyed responded to this question, with most of these having spent between £10-19 attending our events, and 5% reported they spent over £60.
- Number of events: 133 (121) in person events. 5 were virtual or hybrid
- Number of performers/speakers: 366 (308)
- Number of festival partners: 60 (49)
- Number of international participants: 27 (29) including New Zealand, Lithuania, Afghanistan & USA
- Number of free events: 82 (68) – 64% (56%) of total events
- Average ticket price: £4.22 (£4.40)
- Number of venues used: 56 (50)
- Media coverage: A major increase in reach and web visits with total number of clips 106 (155), reach: 6,921,768 (5,435,779), circulation 833,869 (1,310,615), visits 106,804,345 (50,348,068) with a total PR Value: £911,176.53 (729,445.68).
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 and delivered by Imagine Belfast Ltd. and Festival Director Mags White-O’Kane, with the assistance of a Programme Advisory Group 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, Belfast Chamber, British Arts Festivals Association, European Festivals Association, the International Democracy Festivals Association and the Belfast Festivals Forum.
Our 13th annual festival will be held during 5-11 April 2027.
