Stormont says it has no money for Belfast Culture Night this year

Belfast Telegraph

3 days ago

Elected representatives at a recent Belfast City Council committee meeting received an update from officials stating that Stormont would not be helping with the bill for the popular cultural event, which has not been held since 2021.
Green Party councillor Áine Groogan, who has led the charge to reintroduce the event at City Hall, expressed disappointment after responses from both the Infrastructure Minister and a representative from the Department for Communities.
The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) gave no confirmation that Translink would offer a night service for Culture Night 2025, while the Department for Communities (DfC) said it would provide no funding for the event this year.
In April it was announced Belfast Culture Night would return this year, but will be taken 'off the streets,' with a new look, led by money from City Hall.
Councillors then agreed to launch a public procurement exercise to deliver the 2025 Culture Night programme up to the value of £150,000, considerably more than Belfast Council previously contributed, when the Cathedral Quarter Trust led a partnership which delivered the hugely successful event annually in September.
The new Culture Night will not programme street-based events and will concentrate on venue-based events across a wider space in the city, with more community involvement. The event will aim to move away from street drinking and concentrations of crowds, and will require organisations to prove they are paying artists.
The pandemic resulted in the suspension of the event in September 2020, with a digital version staged instead. That year the Cathedral Quarter Trust and Belfast City Council co-commissioned a review which said 'the existing model for Culture Night has become problematic'.
In 2022 organisers said that the event had 'become too big and unwieldy' and the original intention of providing a platform for artistic and cultural communities to connect with a much wider audience 'had been lost'.
Culture Night ran in Belfast in 2021, but did not return. In 2023 the Cathedral Quarter Trust announced it would cease day-to-day operations after Stormont funding was ended. Financial pressures facing Stormont's Department for Communities were reportedly behind the decision.
In May, the council wrote to the Infrastructure Minister and Translink requesting that consideration be given to the operation of late-night public transport services on Culture Night. The council also wrote to the Communities Minister requesting that consideration be given to the provision of funding to support the 2025 Culture Night programme, and also going forward.
At the August meeting of the council's City Growth and Regeneration Committee, elected representatives were given an update on plans for this year's event.
Councillors learned a representative for the Department for Communities, led by DUP MLA Gordon Lyons, replied stating: 'In respect of any funding support, I am sorry to advise that the Department does not have any funding streams available, which I appreciate will be disappointing. I also checked with the Arts Council who advised they have been consulted and advised on application routes through its open programmes.'
The letter from Sinn Féin MLA and Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins replied: 'I understand Translink are working with the City Council to develop a support plan for the event and welcome that both organisations are continuing to work together to ensure that people will be able to travel to and from the event by public transport.
'On a wider basis, I remain committed to finding a solution which will enable the extension of late-night public transport services, not only for one off events in the city, but on a year-round basis and will continue to build on my recent positive engagement with the Economy Minister and representatives of Belfast City Council in this regard.'
Councillor Áine Groogan said at the City Growth and Regeneration Committee meeting: 'Unfortunately it is disappointing, but not surprising, (in terms of both of) these responses.'
She added: 'I have written in my own personal capacity to the Minister for Infrastructure around night time transport, and not just for culture night, because it should be a long term thing. But I think Culture Night gives us something to work to. It would be an incredibly positive thing for the Minister and the city as a whole to run night time services on that night.'
She added: 'Time is short for 2025, we can appreciate that, and maybe it is not something to budget for this year. We can give them a bit of grace on that, but I would propose that we write now asking for engagement in 2026, for investment in Culture Night.'
Councillors unanimously agreed to her proposal.
An officer said: 'Translink did come back to us, but it wasn't a substantive response. It was indicating that they continue to liaise with the department in relation to funding.'