Culture Night is dead, long live Culture Night!

After a few years' hiatus, the news is out in the open. Culture Night Belfast is coming back in 2025. As the main and sole funder for this year’s event, Belfast City Council have recently published an invitation to tender for someone to lead on the development, management and delivery of Culture Night Belfast. And we were pleased to have a role to play in the lead up to this much-awaited return.

Remind me about Culture Night Belfast…?

Culture Night Belfast had its first iteration in 2010. It was brought to life by a number of local arts organisations that got together to expand the Dublin concept to the north of the island. A few years later, it was handed over to Cathedral Quarter Trust who delivered Culture Night for the city until its last event in 2019. Although the Trust attempted to bring the event back in a new format in 2021, calling it Ogham Grove, Culture Night Belfast eventually stopped. Cathedral Quarter Trust lost its core funding in 2023 and ceased all activities with immediate effect. In its absence, no other organisation has yet taken on the lead organising and delivery role necessary to revive Culture Night in Belfast.

Although it got a lot of fair – and unfair – criticism over the years, let’s be honest, everyone(ish) loves Culture Night and was really sad to see it go.

Last year, Council officers and members of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee at Belfast City Council began exploring options on how to bring Culture Night back. Amongst all options, they identified a need for a new event to be developed with the local cultural sector. And for this to happen, they needed to carry out extensive engagement with the sector to understand their experience of previous Culture Night events, how their context changed since 2010 and how likely they would be to get involved in the future.

It was necessary to bring on board an independent party, with direct connections to the Cultural Sector, to lead sectoral engagement and public consultations. That’s where we come in!

What did we do?

In November 2024, Belfast City Council appointed thrive, in partnership with Daisy Chain Inc., to deliver a piece of work titled ‘Culture Night Sector Engagement and Roadmap for Delivery’. This research was an opportunity to explore:

• What is the purpose of Culture Night and who feels ownership of it

• How Culture Night started in Belfast and how it changed over time to better understand the lessons of the past and use these to shape any future iterations

• How the cultural sector and audiences experienced Culture Night in Belfast and what they want it to become in the future

• What past and potential funders’ priorities are and any likelihood of funding the event in the future

We did a lot of desk research, carried out interviews with people and organisations who were involved in the creation and delivery of Culture Night Belfast, delivered a survey and focus groups with the arts and culture sector, focus groups with the public and even talked to previous funders of the event.

What did we find?

Culture Night is a non-denominational, apolitical celebration of our local arts, culture and heritage offering. It is a city-wide, free event that invites audiences to visit spaces and experience culture they may not have encountered before. Words to describe Culture Night used by all parties we consulted in this research included diversity, inclusive and fun. This is the essence of Culture Night Belfast.

In terms of who feels ownership of Culture Night Belfast, many do, but ultimately, our cultural sector, including venues, artists and producers, are those who should own it. Culture Night is about the cultural sector and delivered by the cultural sector. This makes it indisputable that the agency to own Culture Night is theirs.

For Culture Night Belfast to come back with a bang, it was important to look back on the many challenges it faced. This way, we could make recommendations that would ensure its past flaws are addressed. Some of the challenges mentioned during our conversations included:

• Overcrowding and safety: As visitor numbers grew, Cathedral Quarter became difficult to navigate. Crowd management and security resources were also inadequate for this level of activity.

• Limited funding: The event’s growth in audience size was not matched by increased financial support, leading to challenges in safety management and event quality. The increased commercialisation of the event—such as corporate sponsorships that did not align with the event’s values and ethos—further alienated artists and audiences.

• Lack of support for the cultural sector: There is a common belief that artists weren’t paid for their work during Culture Night. The story is not as clear cut. Almost half of venues and producers consulted for this research paid artists, either well or very well. However, nearly a quarter of venues and producers could not pay artists at all, while others could only offer minimal compensation. Many artists covered costs out of pocket, while some venues felt obligated to participate despite financial losses.

• Alcohol-dominated atmosphere: While alcohol consumption was always part of the event due to its night-time setting, the focus shifted from cultural participation to social drinking, especially in later years. The introduction of Culture Day in 2019, designed to separate family-friendly activities from the nighttime event, inadvertently reinforced the perception that Culture Night was no longer welcoming for all ages. Many venues and artists expressed frustration that bars and hospitality businesses profited significantly from the event, while they remained unpaid or underpaid.

• Governance: The absence of a sustainable governance model made the event highly vulnerable to changes in personnel, funding availability, and external pressures.

What did we recommend?

We divided our recommendations into two sections:

• Short-term recommendations that focused on what is required for Culture Night Belfast to return in 2025

• Long-term recommendations that looked at the durability of the event beyond 2025

Given the timeframe for a 2025 event, going back to basics was the best option: A smaller, venue-based event, focused on the creative sector rather than the hospitality industry. There is a risk that some organisations and artists won’t be able to take part as their programme and schedule for the year are already set. But it is important that they do not feel obligated to participate.

For this year, we recognised that a procurement process was the only approach. It is crucial that the chosen provider must have more than just large-scale event management experience. They should also have:

• In-depth knowledge of the cultural sector (including both funded and non-funded organisations, freelancers, and artists),

• Existing relationships within the sector across the city,

• Strong marketing capabilities for large events,

• A team that aligns with the values and ethos of the event.

• Additionally, the provider will need to lay the groundwork for 2026 and establish an independent committee as part of governance.

Long-term recommendations included more details about the event’s delivery model, governance, funding, safety, marketing and growth.

The procurement process is closing this week on Thursday 15th May. We can’t wait to see who will get it and how Culture Night Belfast will return.

If you’re nosey and want to read the full report, you can download it here.