Northern Ireland

There's so much going on in Northern Ireland in 2012!

An incredible line-up of arts, culture, and history to experience all year long. - your only challenge will be deciding when you want to arrive.

NI 2012 will be rocking to a very broad beat - from living art and star-studded concerts to glamorous galas and even a spot of sailing. It all kicks off with the Titanic Belfast Festival, marking the 100-year anniversary of the famous liner as well as the opening the doors of the magnificent new Titanic Belfast visitor centre. Later on in the year, you can scoot on down to the 50th Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s in October and the unmissable Peace One Day Concert in Londonderry in June. Of course, you’ll also be donning your boater to fit in with the nautical vibe as the World Clipper Yacht Race moors itself in Londonderry.

To cut a long story short - a party like this isn’t easy to find, so grab a camera, wear a smile and make your NI 2012 scrapbook one to remember.

Titanic Belfast Festival 2012

April and May 2012
Born in Belfast, built by Belfast and imagined by Belfast – there’s only one place the Titanic could really celebrate its 100-year anniversary. The Titanic’s footprint runs pretty deep in the city; from the shipyard’s hulking gantry cranes Samson and Goliath, to the slipway where MTV will play a rollicking one-off concert and a poignant memorial by the side of Belfast City Hall. The shiny cherry on top will be Titanic Belfast when it opens its doors on March 31st. Add theatre, insight-loaded tours and a raft of family-friendly events and you have yourself the most all-encompassing Titanic Festival, well, anywhere.

Land of Giants

30 June 2012
Giant by name, and Giant by nature. Land of Giants, part of the London 2012 Festival, plans to be the biggest outdoor arts event Northern Ireland has ever seen. Considering where it will take place – the massive 235 metre Titanic slipway – we believe them. A cast and crew of over 500 will present astounding acrobatics, aerial dance, carnivals, circus, music, multi-media shows and mind-blowing pyrotechnics. As one of only four UK community celebrations taking place during the Olympic 2012 festivities as a London 2012 Festival event, we’re getting enthralled just writing about it…

Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre

August/September 2012
As a certified UNESCO World Heritage Site, it’s important that the Giant's Causeway has a state-of-the-art visitor centre. And what’s that we hear? In 2012, the Causeway will finally get a visitor centre of equal greatness to the natural wonder itself and the occasion won’t go by without a good chunk of celebrating. Among the righteously cool new additions are the architectural awesomeness of the visitor centre, are astounding walking trails as well as fact-packed information points and on-site orientation. To pique your interest even more, there will be a ‘giant’ art installation, 'Flags', by German artist Hans Peter Kuhn. This project, commissioned by the London 2012 Festival with partnership funding from Northern Ireland Tourist Board, will stretch along the length of the bay of Port Noffer and draw on the natural power of the elements. Excited? Big time!

Find out more about NI 2012

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