Belfast Festival at Queens 2010 preview

Met up with Graeme Farrow today, the director of the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's. He arrived for our meeting clutching a rain soaked batch of A4 sheets. Hot off the press here was a preview, albeit a slightly soggy one, of this year's festival programme which won't be officially launched until the 23rd August .

So Alan Bennett in the Grand Opera House, his "The Habit of Art" which imagines a meeting between Benjamin Britten and WH Auden. Then there's a foot washing ceremony at an East Belfast interface, artist Adrian Howells performs this with an audience of one, yes, you and your feet, which he washes, anoints with frankincense oil and then asks can he kiss? Apparently he's booked for 40 performances. That's 80 feet!

Then there's "National Anthem" from Colin Bateman, his first ever stage play and an opera based in a bingo hall from Brian Irvine.

Tony Allen, perhaps the greatest drummer ever (according to Brian Eno), Terry Riley and Talvin Singh in the Elmwood Hall and, yes, fifty naked women dancing in the Waterfront Hall. That'll put plenty of (bare) bums on seats. Sorry!

Martin Creed, the Turner Prize winner, plays punk on a barge in Belfast Lough. Joanna McGregor plays Chopin, Dame Gillian Weir plays the refurbished Mulholland Organ, Therapy? in the Mandela Hall and Paul Brady's back catalogue is specially orchestrated for the Ulster Orchestra with Brady onstage..

Michael Palin returns. His connection with the festival goes way back, to the days of former festival director the late Michael Barnes. Michael P is very much part of the Michael Barnes Bursary. And he's also selected three of his favourite comedy films to be shown in the festival. Called Palin's Pic(k)s, they are "A Shot in the Dark", "Fargo" and "The Ladykillers".

What else? A lot but Graeme said I was to leave him something. So more to follow when the programme is officially launched!

The Festival runs from the 15th-30th October.