Culture of Belfast
[3] In fact in 1841, J. Stirling Coyne wrote about Belfast "so celebrated has this town become for its patronage and love of learning, that it has acquired the proud title of the modern Athens".
Belfast City Council has promoted culture with the goals of encouraging creativity, bringing communities together to facilitate reconciliation, and creating new jobs.
[8] A combination of relative peace, international investment and an active promotion of arts and culture is attracting more tourists to Belfast than ever before.
Belsonic is another annual August music festival held in the redeveloped Titanic Quarter Belfast has one major theatre, The Lyric.
Belfast has been taking full advantage of a new tax deal which makes Northern Ireland more attractive as a film location.
Sir John Lavery (1856–1941) was best known for his portraits of rich and famous of his day, while William Conor (1881–1968) and Paul Henry changed how the rest of the world viewed Ireland at the time.
The University of Ulster's Art and Design Campus in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter has undergone a £30 million development programme.
Conversely, murals in areas such as the Falls Road, which is almost entirely Roman Catholic, feature political themes such as a united Ireland and the Provisional IRA, as well as traditional folklore and the Irish language.
The Gaelic folk hero Cúchulainn has appeared on both republican and loyalist murals, representing the heroic Celtic past for the former and legendary battles between Ulster and the other provinces for the latter.
Apprentice Boys' banners typically depict scenes from the Siege of Derry but can also show other unionist topics or deceased members of the organisation.
[18] Catholic banners, also depict a variety of subjects, with Hibernia (the Irish equivalent of Britannia); Saint Patrick; and various nationalist heroes being popular.
In recent years, the development of world class venues like the Waterfront Hall and the Odyssey has meant that Belfast now regularly attracts big name stars who previously would have played in Dublin or Glasgow.
They made their name when Belfast record shop owner Terry Hooley released the Teenage Kicks EP on his Good Vibrations label in September 1978.
Belfast musicians, Sir James Galway, The Man With the Golden Flute and Barry Douglas, a classical pianist have both made an impact on the world stage.
The local Republican rap trio Kneecap have experienced both popularity and controversy while helping to popularise the Irish language among young people.
C. S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, was born in Belfast as were Brian Moore, Bernard MacLaverty, Glenn Patterson and Robert McLiam Wilson.
Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon, Michael Longley and Ciarán Carson were poet participants in The Belfast Group.
