Belfast International Arts Festival Announces 64th Edition with Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Conleth Hill and Simon Mayo Headlining
The 64th Belfast International Arts Festival has unveiled its programme for October and November 2026, with Radiohead guitarist and solo artist Ed O'Brien headlining at the Ulster Hall, Game of Thrones star Conleth Hill returning to his home city, and broadcaster Simon Mayo among a lineup that spans music, theatre, literature, and visual arts across more than 200 events over four weeks.
Background
The Belfast International Arts Festival, founded in 1962, is one of the oldest and most respected arts festivals in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Running annually in October and November, it has served for more than six decades as a platform for international artists to engage with Belfast audiences, and for Belfast's own creative community to present work to a wider world. The festival's longevity is a testament to the city's cultural ambition — an ambition that has, if anything, intensified in the years since the Good Friday Agreement transformed Belfast's relationship with itself and with the outside world.
The 64th edition arrives at a moment of particular cultural confidence for Belfast. The city's first Fleadh Cheoil, held earlier this summer, drew enormous crowds and generated significant media attention, demonstrating an appetite for large-scale cultural events that the International Arts Festival is well placed to build on. The festival's programme, running from 14 October to 8 November 2026, reflects that confidence — ambitious in scope, international in reach, and rooted in the city's own creative identity.
Ed O'Brien's appearance at the Ulster Hall on 19 October is the most high-profile booking in the festival's music programme. O'Brien, best known as the guitarist of Radiohead, released his debut solo album EarthGlow in 2020 and his second, Blue Morpho, in 2025. The Blue Morpho live show, which he will bring to Belfast, is described as a fluid and immersive experience drawing on psych-folk, trip-hop, and ambient soundscapes — a significant departure from the stadium rock of his day job.
Key Developments
Tickets for O'Brien's Ulster Hall performance are priced at £49.50, with the show restricted to attendees aged 14 and over. The Ulster Hall, one of Belfast's most beloved venues, provides an intimate setting for a performer of O'Brien's stature — a deliberate choice that reflects the festival's preference for meaningful encounters over spectacle.
Conleth Hill, the Ballycastle-born actor best known internationally for his portrayal of Varys in Game of Thrones, returns to Belfast as part of the theatre programme. Hill has maintained strong ties to the Northern Irish stage throughout his career, and his appearance at the festival is expected to draw significant interest from both theatre audiences and fans of his television work.
Simon Mayo, the veteran BBC broadcaster and author, features in the festival's literature and conversation strand. Mayo, who has reinvented himself as a novelist and podcaster following his departure from BBC Radio 2, brings a profile that extends well beyond traditional arts festival audiences — a deliberate strategy by the festival to broaden its reach.
The full programme of more than 200 events encompasses visual arts exhibitions, dance performances, film screenings, and community engagement projects across venues throughout Belfast, from the Grand Opera House and the MAC to smaller spaces in neighbourhoods across the city.
Why It Matters
Belfast's cultural infrastructure has developed remarkably over the past two decades, but the city still faces challenges in attracting and retaining creative talent, and in persuading international artists that Belfast is a destination worth the journey. The International Arts Festival plays a crucial role in that effort — each year's programme is, in effect, an argument that Belfast belongs in the same conversation as Edinburgh, Dublin, and Manchester as a city that takes culture seriously.
The O'Brien booking is a case in point. A Radiohead guitarist performing an intimate solo show at the Ulster Hall is not an obvious commercial proposition, but it is exactly the kind of booking that builds the festival's reputation as a place where artists can take risks and audiences can encounter something genuinely unexpected. That reputation, built over 64 years, is the festival's most valuable asset.
Local Impact
For Belfast's creative community — the writers, musicians, visual artists, and theatre makers who work in the city year-round — the International Arts Festival provides a moment of visibility and connection that sustains the broader ecosystem. Many of the festival's 200-plus events feature local artists alongside international names, and the economic impact of four weeks of cultural activity — in ticket sales, hospitality, accommodation, and ancillary spending — is significant for the city centre and surrounding areas.
The festival's community engagement programme, which brings events to neighbourhoods beyond the city centre, ensures that the cultural dividend is not confined to those who can afford premium tickets. Schools, community centres, and libraries across Belfast host festival events, reaching audiences who might not otherwise engage with the arts.
What's Next
The full festival programme is available at the Belfast International Arts Festival website, with tickets on sale now for most events. The festival runs from 14 October to 8 November 2026. Ed O'Brien performs at the Ulster Hall on 19 October. The festival's opening events are scheduled for the week of 14 October, with the full programme building through the month.
