Jazz vinyl night featuring rare cuts and original pressings from Blue Note and beyond, compered by David Lyttle in the cosy surrouding of the candlelit American Bar.

Clare Galway is a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. Born in the heart of Belfast city, with mixed Irish and Filipino heritages, Clare weaves her soulful, gospel-influenced vocals into the world of Celtic storytelling. The listener cannot help but be drawn into her world by her captivating voice and potent, compelling stories of love and loss.

We close the Sound Of Belfast Festival with an afternoon dedicated to solidarity, reflection, and collective expression by presenting a tribute to Sinéad O’Connor’s 1994 album, Universal Mother. A powerful and haunting work, the album delves deep into trauma, womanhood, resistance, and the political through the lens of the personal. Its themes are as urgent today as they were then.

JUJU is Belfast (and Ireland’s) first Japanese-style jazz kissa – a dedicated café for listening to jazz, hosted by Belfast-born photographer and writer, Philip Arneill, creator of the acclaimed TOKYO JAZZ JOINTS project.

Traditional music session with the boys from Lonesome George.

What happens when two different musical worlds collide? Jazz pianist Scott Flanigan and traditional harpist Grainne Meyer come together to explore what happens when jazz meets trad!

JUJU is Belfast (and Ireland’s) first Japanese-style jazz kissa – a dedicated café for listening to jazz, hosted by Belfast-born photographer and writer, Philip Arneill, creator of the acclaimed TOKYO JAZZ JOINTS project.

Three Generations of Belfast DJs in Conversation.

As part of the 2025 Sound of Belfast Festival, we are proud to present “RTT” a compelling & intimate panel discussion tracing the evolution of DJ culture both here in Belfast and further afield, via three voices of influential & burgeoning artists: Noel Watson, Timmy Stewart & Hannah.

Belfast punk music holds a special place in music history, near and far.

Take this walking tour to explore the story of punk music on Belfast’s streets, with a passionate guide, who saw live back in the late 1970s the city’s best-known bands, including The Outcasts, Rudi, Stiff Little Fingers, Ruefrex, Victim, etc – and who loves today’s punk bands too. The story of 1970s punk and the Good Vibrations record shop and label run by Terri Hooley, has been dramatised in the ‘Good Vibrations’ film. On the walk, you will explore Belfast to see where the legendary sites in the 1970s punk story were, including where the Good Vibrations record shop first opened, and where the Harp Bar and The Pound stood.

Experience Belfast’s vibrant music scene with the Belfast Music Bus Tour, and celebrate its UNESCO City of Music status. Hop on board for a music-filled journey across the city, to hear lots of stories and entertaining facts about many music legends connected to Belfast. Ruby Murray, Gary Moore, Sean Maguire, Bicep and David Holmes –to name just a few.

JUJU is Belfast (and Ireland’s) first Japanese-style jazz kissa – a dedicated café for listening to jazz, hosted by Belfast-born photographer and writer, Philip Arneill, creator of the acclaimed TOKYO JAZZ JOINTS project.

At Building Blocks we have a unique seminar. In the morning, we will provide music industry education, song splits, funding, all the basic grassroots legalities. We have partnered with the MU and will also signpost to their materials. We provide lunch, and after lunch our attendees will split into smaller groups and write with workiBuilding Blocks to Becoming a Pro Songwriting songwriters to write a song and then perform the songs to the group at the end of the day. Previous camps have had writers Winnie Ama, Leo Miyagee, Cheylene Murphy and advice from the MU and Score Draws Mark Gordon.

Don’t miss this chance to experience a behind-the-scenes tour of one of Belfast’s iconic entertainment venues – the Waterfront Hall – on 15 November.

Rowdy, raucous, foot stamping Irish Ballads on a Friday night in the downstairs bar.

Venus Rising is a new creative production company founded by Claire Hall — also known as Venus Dupree. Our mission is to spotlight artists who are either on the rise or already blazing bright with innovation, rawness, and an unwavering dedication to the integrity of their craft.

A 250-year-old cottage becomes an inhabitable amplifier for an experimental electro-acoustic performance.

Polar Bolero with support from Tessio and Tristan Rene. Polar Bolero- Live is where their arena is. Getting people onside is what it’s all about. Polar Bolero do it better than almost anyone else.

Strand presents a night of Soul with Blackjack + Jai Sian and support by Crystal Dawn.

The Night Hearts are best described as blending the fresh-faced sounds of today’s Pop/Rock with a dash of Americana. Led by Songwriting and Production Duo Chantelle McAteer and Chris Logan.

Volume Control's annual battle of the bands competition. Live Final with 5 of the freshest new musical acts to hit in the scene in Belfast and beyond. They will battle it out in front of an audience of their peers and industry judges in order to win some brilliant prizes and opportunities for their future.

Step inside the historic Templemore Baths for an immersive evening of live ambient sound and meditation.

This year Curgenven makes his return to Belfast to debut at Sonic Lab.

JUJU is Belfast (and Ireland’s) first Japanese-style jazz kissa – a dedicated café for listening to jazz, hosted by Belfast-born photographer and writer, Philip Arneill, creator of the acclaimed TOKYO JAZZ JOINTS project.

JUJU is Belfast (and Ireland’s) first Japanese-style jazz kissa – a dedicated café for listening to jazz, hosted by Belfast-born photographer and writer, Philip Arneill, creator of the acclaimed TOKYO JAZZ JOINTS project.

Comprised of brothers Stevie & Jake Lennox, Brian Coney, and Rory Dee, Junk Drawer is the product of four crate-digging music lovers with open ears and a genuine open-minded approach in their process. It is also the outworkings of rural Ulster strangeness, the provinces’ many lost futures, and the harmony & discordance of a sibling creative partnership.

Join Hard Rain for their annual celebration of the newest in new music. Exclusive premieres and a programme featuring both local and international composers, at all ends of the career spectrum, we showcase works just written for us over the past few months.

Kaidi Tatham is a Grammy winning multi-instrumentalist, producer and pioneer of Broken-Beat and Nu Jazz.