A Taste of Belfast and Brussels

As part of this year’s Out to Lunch Festival, the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels issued invites to join the ‘A Taste of Belfast and Brussels’ concert which live streamed a selection of artists from Northern Ireland on Tuesday 19 January at 2pm CET. The programme featured musicians, Anthony Toner, Ursula Burns, Ciara O’Neill and writer, Stephen Connolly, performing in the beautiful and historic Rosemary Street Church. Lynsey Moore, Director of the Brussels office was in Belfast along with Sean Kelly, Director of Cathedral Quarter Arts to introduce the event.

Since 2012, the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels has partnered with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to present a ‘Culture Night Brussels’ showcase of the best of Northern Irish arts and culture, bringing a host of musicians, writers and performers to Brussels and introducing their work to an appreciative international audience. The 2020 edition has been reimagined and as a result, the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive was delighted to welcome you to this lunchtime performance featuring artists who have taken part in previous years.

Over the years Culture Night Brussels has featured acclaimed Northern Irish talent including Reel It In & Lee Lawson, Grainne Holland & Maeve MacKinnon, Ursula Burns & Alice McCullough, Teresa Livingstone & Stonewall Folk, Peter E Davidson, Ciara O’Neill & Matt McGinn, Brigid O’Neill and Joshua Burnside and the event is an established highlight of the Brussels cultural calendar.

Noirin McKinney, Director of Arts Development at the Arts Council, commented: ‘The Out to Lunch Festival is always an annual highlight in the arts calendar, brightening up an otherwise dull January. We are delighted to support this year’s Out to Lunch Festival through National Lottery and exchequer funding and congratulate Sean and the team in curating an excellent programme of digital content despite the huge challenges presented by the pandemic. We are also very proud to partner with the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels to showcase our fantastic artists every Culture Night and would encourage everyone to tune in on 19th January to enjoy this special event.’

In case you missed the live stream, you can watch the concert here:


To view the full Out to Lunch Festival programme visit www.cqaf.com