Belfast eyes boost from two years of world's largest Irish music event

The world's largest festival of Irish music and dance has not even been to Belfast yet and it has already signed up to return.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann - the All-Ireland Fleadh - in Northern Ireland's capital in the summer.

It was announced earlier in March that it will return in 2027.

The news has been welcomed as a boost for the arts, culture and the economy which will draw visitors to the city two years running.

Arthur McAnerney runs City Picnic in Belfast city centre and said his business would be "ramping up stock, staff, on-street seats, decorating and hopefully get some music in, so it'll be all go".

"It's the biggest event probably we've had in our history," he said.

He attended the Fleadh when he was younger and described it as a "great tourist attraction" and the "streets are just buzzing for the whole session".

"It's a great festival atmosphere and it's great for Belfast to get it. I'm absolutely delighted, actually, that Belfast has got it.

"It's an incredible thing for Belfast and it's great to see that we're going to get a second go at it too and hopefully lots more to come after that.

"It's unbelievable watching Belfast grow and getting things like this coming to Belfast is just incredible."

In the past, the Fleadh has welcomed up to 800,000 visitors to the host town or city and has only been held in Northern Ireland once when it came to Londonderry in 2013.

Dónal O'Connor, a traditional musician and artistic director of Belfast Tradfest, has been attending the Fleadh since he was a child.

He also worked as a producer on the live television production of the Fleadh from Derry in 2013 until Drogheda in 2019.

He described Belfast hosting the event for two consecutive years as "great news" and "hugely positive for the city".

"It shows that there's a confidence in Belfast to deliver such a large scale event, that there's an appetite here in the city for it, but that the world also wants to come here," O'Connor said.

He said local musicians were very excited and the Fleadh would "provide lots of opportunities to showcase the very best of here".

"We have a unique soundscape in this part of the island and it's an opportunity to show that to the world," O'Connor added.

He said the Fleadh coming to Belfast would "give the city a huge economic boost" and believes a large number of people from the Republic of Ireland will cross the border and come to Belfast for the first time.

Claire Kieran, an Irish traditional music producer, set up the Belfast Traditional Music Trail and said Belfast was "probably the best city in the country for traditional music".

"We have amazing talent here, so many amazing musicians, and also a rich heritage in the city for traditional music, so it's really fitting that it's coming here - and really exciting," she said.

She said she hoped the Fleadh will return to more towns throughout Northern Ireland.

The knock-on effect from businesses of large visitor numbers does not just mean stays in hotels, bookings in restaurants and pints pulled in pubs.

Tourists are also expected to spend money in shops, something which Keith Lane of the Norn Irish Gift Shop in the city centre is hopeful will benefit his business.

"As a city centre business, it can only be a good thing, and bring more money, more people, and put Belfast city on the map," he said.

He is originally from Yorkshire but has lived in Northern Ireland for 23 years and markets the gifts in his business for the "local Northern Irish craic and banter" and with the Fleadh coming will "embrace that as much as we can".

"It'll be vibrant, the city should be bouncing with that number of people and all the activities, so it should be really exciting and be a real focus for the businesses in the city centre," he said.

The Fleadh is organised by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (Association of the Musicians of Ireland).

Brendan McAleer from Comhaltas is from Omagh in County Tyrone and said it made him very pleased to see the Fleadh coming north.

"For decades, our musicians and competitors travelled from all across Ulster to all parts of Ireland and had only been in Derry back in 2013, but I always wanted to see it coming back," he said.

McAleer said he had seen a "huge surge in traditional music" all across Northern Ireland and the "quality of the young musicians now are second to none".

He said the Fleadh would give them a "huge platform to display their talents on what is a global stage".

McAleer added that reports from Fáilte Ireland suggested 17% of visitors to the Fleadh came from outside the island of Ireland.

"When you're talking numbers of 800,000 - that's a huge amount of people coming in and that then gives our local businesses, tourism providers, hoteliers, restaurants, pubs and everybody an opportunity to benefit from the Fleadh," he said.

McAleer said that, for many people, the Fleadh would be their first visit to Belfast and "if we can show them a good time, show them that it's a different city to maybe what had been preconceived previously, there are opportunities for repeat visits".

"Coming into Belfast - the biggest dividend for us can be socially because we can have a cultural festival that comes in and every corner of society, every person can feel that they gain from, and that there is something there for everybody," he added.