Overview
Beat Carnival Centre is a unique resource in NI’s arts ecosystem, producing spectacular carnival arts in ways that leave a legacy of creative skills, collaboration and celebration in our communities. Projects engage the imagination of a broad range of people and highlight community and carnival arts in Northern Ireland’s creative landscape.
Beat Carnival are known for producing parades and carnivals, including the East Belfast Lantern Parade which involve the whole of the city including areas of West Belfast.
From its first iteration in 1998 to the post-Covid parade, the St Patrick’s Day parade has played a strategic peacebuilding and developmental role – acting as a vehicle for building a more inclusive city and as platform for artists and participants to gain experience and find work.
Key aims and rationale
The St Patrick’s Day parade is significant in a number of respects: for the role of the participants and the range of the community art forms; the historical, political background; for its accessibility and ability to access areas deemed inaccessible; for the range of participants’ backgrounds, now including asylum seekers as well as Belfast born people; its inclusivity and ambition to be welcoming to all; the interconnections between visual material – costumes – and audio – music through performance.
Key Peace-Related Issues
Contested spaces
Contested traditions
Key Information
Lead OrganisationBeat Carnival
02/03/1998
Online resources
Belfast St Patrick’s Day Parade – Beat Carnival
30 years bringing colour and carnival to Belfast (belfastmedia.com)
Interview conducted for University of Liverpool Recovering the Art of Reconciliation workshop at East Side Arts, 28 June 2024
Beat Carnival St Patrick’s Day Parade, Belfast 2015
Photo Gallery
