Belfast is officially a UNESCO City of Music
We are a talented bunch 👏
Belfast is officially a UNESCO City of Music, celebrating the city’s rich musical heritage and recognising the importance of music to its future.
From punk to proms, trad to rock legends and fantastic emerging new talent, Belfast’s music scene (past and present) is one that everyone can be proud of.
Belfast is only the third city in the UK to become a City of Music with Liverpool receiving it in 2016 and Glasgow in 2008. It is also the first city on the island of Ireland to receive the accolade.
Altogether there are 59 Cities of Music forming part of the prestigious UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody and Emmy-nominated composer Hannah Peel have been appointed official Belfast Music patrons.
“Music is woven into the DNA of Belfast," Belfast Music Patron Gary Lightbody comments.
"We have so many incredible bands and artists - and more every single year. I’ve watched in these last 25 years of relative peace the music scene grow and then thrive and now burst at the seams with fearless and limitless talent.
"Being designated as a UNESCO City of Music honours the gargantuan effort that the entire music scene has made to help raise Belfast up and out of the darkest of times."
Fellow Belfast Music Patron Hannah Peel adds: "Belfast is an alive, vibrant and a musically powerful city.
"Now is the time to celebrate those that are making a difference in music, in culture. As well as artists like Van Morrison, there is female empowered punk, new wave, Brit nominated EDM, jazz and an abundance of classical music that runs through the veins of this city and yet to the wider world, it is all unheard of, underground, eclipsed by its past, but still supplying a pulse and vibrancy that needs to be lauded for the future."
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