29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Belfast Telegraph
New stage to debut at 2025 AVA Festival on Titanic Slipways
The two-day event kicks off on Friday with a new stage, The Dock.
Watch: AVA Festival returns to Belfast
Event organiser Sarah McBriar said: 'It's looking amazing, we've got so many new additions to the festival this year and sunshine is forecast for Friday.'
The Dock features layered platforms for dancers, a Funktion-One sound system supplied by Hertz-U Audioand a custom audiovisual rigfrom Visual Spectrum Studio.
She added: 'It's a mixture of dancing and live shows, it's that kind of an amphitheatre-style stage as well, and we have built lots of shipping containers and scaffolding stuff around it.
'So, it's still got the industrial feel of AVA, but the intimacy of an epic stage.'
The Dock is an 'homage' to Belfast.
She explained: 'I think that's what we've always done, both with who we programme and who we book, but also, like, the scenery and the location.
'It's an amazing site here on the slipways, and the fact that we've got the Titanic (museum) and the cranes as a backdrop. We've got the city, the water, the boats come in, the sunsets over the city... it's a gorgeous location.'
This year's festival promises 'something for everyone'.
Ms McBriar added: 'If you're into bands, we've got Chalk, we've got obviously Underworld playing live, and Overmono, all the way through to lots of local acts like DJ Time of the Month, Reger, Mark Blair... and also, if you're into techno, we've got 9x9.
'So yeah, it's pretty much like a massive bill. But I think also just the atmosphere and the people and the crowd and the energy... you know, even if you're not massively into the music, it's also just the atmosphere and the whole experience.'
The AVA team is working hard to ensure festival-goers enjoy a quality experience.
She said: 'We've got 'chill out' spaces, a really cool hospitality space with Wing It, lots of amazing local food traders, a new Be Perfect bus, where people can go and get a facial, and then obviously all the amazing stages as well.
'You can chill, you can dance, you can rave, you can get lots of amazing drinks from our bars.'
AVA will run from Friday to Saturday with tickets still available online.
'Our weekend tickets are actually really close to selling out. So if you haven't already got your ticket, get onto it ASAP,' she said.
'And then we've got a handful of day tickets remaining.'
