‘Full Steam Ahead’ for Culture Night Belfast 2015
Belfast Harbour has been revealed as the lead sponsor for Culture Night Belfast 2015.
Belfast Harbour has been revealed as the lead sponsor for Culture Night Belfast 2015 which takes place in the autumn. The significant investment will help ensure that this year’s Culture Night will be the largest since the event began in 2009.
Based primarily in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter, Culture Night Belfast (CNB) will involve over 250 separate cultural events and is expected to be enjoyed by over 50,000 people.
Over 200 organisations will take part during the event which will run between 1pm and 10pm on Friday, 18th September. In addition to a host of outdoor street performances CNB also involves a range of venues, galleries and historic buildings which will open for events, talks and tours.
Announcing the sponsorship, Belfast Harbour’s CEO, Roy Adair, said:
“Belfast Harbour has a long association with supporting the Arts and Culture Night Belfast, as the city’s best one-day cultural event, is the most exciting partnership we’ve developed in recent years. Funding for the arts has come under increasing pressure in recent years so we’re delighted to have the opportunity to help safeguard one of Belfast’s most popular events, supporting the businesses who cater for the Culture Night crowds and maintaining a platform for the creative arts. Supporting a vibrant cultural scene is important if Belfast wants to showcase itself as an appealing place to live, work and invest in. With work underway at the Harbour’s £250m City Quays development, events such as Culture Night and the success of Cathedral Quarter are vital if Northern Ireland is going to succeed in the highly competitive market for overseas investment.”
Paul McErlean, Chair of the Cathedral Quarter Trust, the organiser of Culture Night said:
“We are delighted to welcome Belfast Harbour as the new lead sponsor of Culture Night Belfast and host of the new CNB Almanac series in the lead-up to Culture Night. In six years, Culture Night has established itself as a beacon of light on Belfast’s cultural scene. In difficult financial circumstances, our artists of varying hues give all exhibitions and performances for free – it is a cultural gift to the people of this great city but it takes money and resources to put the event on and we are very grateful to the Harbour for its support. As many different interests including developers, public servants, elected representatives, businesses, charities and others promote their agendas and their plans to take Belfast forward, we are also pleased to offer an even wider group of people a chance to express their views through the CNB Almanac and have them presented creatively on Culture Night. Last year’s Culture Night attracted over 55,000 people to the streets of the Cathedral Quarter to explore the creativity and spontaneity of arts and culture in our city. We look forward to delivering an even more inclusive and exciting event in 2015.”
Adam Turkington, Culture Night Programme Manager said:
“It’s been a tough year all round for arts organisations in Northern Ireland, so we are thrilled to be partnering with Belfast Harbour. It really is a perfect partnership for Culture Night and for the city of Belfast. Belfast people are extremely passionate about their city and the direction they’d like to see it going in. Thanks to key partners like Belfast Harbour we’ll be able to offer up our biggest Culture Night yet and showcase the very best that our city has to offer.”
As part of the sponsorship package Culture Night Belfast includes a new element, the CNB Almanac, an initiative to give Belfast’s citizens a platform to discuss their aspirations for the city. Based on the themes of The Arts, Environment and Young People the Almanac aims to prompt a public debate about how Belfast needs to plan for the future.
Please go to www.culturenightbelfast.com for further details.
