Beat Carnival

Last year young people from our SOUP group took part in Northern Ireland Now, a project that supports communities in Belfast to create unique film content showcasing our diversity 🎬

The films they created are now available to view on Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Archive, take a look 👇

https://digitalfilmarchive.net/collection/soup-410

Andrew represented Beat Carnival at the recent all-island Festival Makers two-day conference in Sligo, engaging in panels, workshops and debates presented by a variety of speakers.

He was also part of the co-design group for the third day of Festival Connects - focusing on collaboration across the island of Ireland to enable sustained opportunities for both north and south.



Arts Council of Northern Ireland The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon British Council Northern Ireland Culture Ireland

Look at our lovely new solar panels, installed as part of our commitment to sustainability ♻

We were able to install the panels and energy efficient lighting thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund Northern Ireland Sustainable Community Buildings Fund. We estimate that we will save around 5000kg of CO2 a year with these changes.

In 2025-26 we were able to cut our carbon footprint by 27% by choosing an electricity supplier committed to renewable energy and consciously reducing our heating oil usage.

We are committed to further reducing our impact on the planet and have included green arts as part of our core values. We are part of the Green Arts NI network - a network of cultural and creative organisations across NI who are working together to reduce our environmental impact, and using creativity to inspire action against climate change.



[Image description: Solar panels installed on a roof with blue sky and other buildings in the background]

Registration is now open for our Arts Summer Scheme taking place 10th–14th August 🎨🎭

Young people aged 8+ will take part in a variety of creative workshops themed around building a world of their own - imagining new places, characters, creatures and ideas and bringing them to life through carnival arts.

Activities are FREE thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund Northern Ireland but we do require a £20 cash, refundable deposit per family.

Register by completing this form: https://bit.ly/summerscheme2026

For more info:
📩 [email protected]
📞 028 9043 4767

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Pride workshops last week, led by our Artistic Director Andrew and Movement Director Rosie Mullin. The workshops were full of colour & joy and the input from participants will help us animate and design the float we are making for this year's Belfast Pride Parade 🏳️‍🌈

There will be more opportunities to take part in Belfast Pride with us, so keep an eye on our socials for more information.

Beatndrum Samba Band are heading to Limavegas this July for the first time 🙌

If you have been to Stendhal Festival before you will know what an inclusive, fun festival it is; right up our street!

Stendhal is NI's longest running independent outdoor music and arts festival, and this will be its 16th year. There are weekend camping and day tickets available and its family-friendly.

Find out more here: https://www.stendhalfestival.com/

It's that time of year again - registration for our annual Arts Summer Scheme is now open 🔅

Taking place from 10th–14th August, we’re inviting young people to step into their imaginations and build a world of their own. Through creative workshops, games, music, designing and storytelling, participants will dream up new places, characters, creatures and ideas, bringing them to life through carnival arts.

This is a great opportunity for young people to get creative, try new things and make new friends in a relaxed and fun environment.

Activities are FREE thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund Northern Ireland but we do require a £20 cash, refundable deposit per family.

Register by completing this form: https://bit.ly/summerscheme2026

For more info:
📩 [email protected]
📞 028 9043 4767

We love welcoming visitors to Beat Carnival Centre 💙

This week we hosted Councillor Carl Whyte & Sabine Kalke from Belfast City Council. Following a visit to our friends at Circusful they, along with Circusful CEO Paddy Anderson, joined us for a tour around the centre and we got the opportunity to tell them about our work and future plans.



[Image description: Five people stand smiling for the camera. Behind them is a yellow carnival prop with 'H&W' written in black letters]

Belfast Pride Workshops 🌈

There is still time to register for our free Belfast Pride Workshops taking place next week.

For this year's parade we will create a colourful float based on the theme of 'Love in Every Colour'. We're looking for people from all backgrounds aged 18+ who would like to take part in the parade with us.

Join our relaxed, free workshops where you can share stories, have a bit of craic, and help bring our carnival float to life through writing, costume, design, walking or performance.

📍Beat Carnival Centre, 11-47 Boyd Street, Belfast
📆 Monday 1st & Wednesday 3rd June, 6pm-8pm (attend one or both)
✏️ Sign-up here: https://bit.ly/prideworkshops



[Image description: Love in Every Colour logo and the Belfast Pride Festival logo feature on a pink background. In the centre 'Pride Workshops' is written in purple. In the bottom right corner is a graphic of a rainbow float on wheels]

One Week To Go - Coastal Carnival Band Workshops 🌊🥁

Starting next Tuesday we will be delivering FREE Coastal Carnival Band Workshops over 5 weeks at Portaferry Market House. It's open to all ages and no experience is required.

If YOU fancy trying something new, meeting new people and having the craic, come join us!

Book your space here: https://bit.ly/coastalcarnivalband

With thanks to Culture - Ards and North Down



[Image description: Six performers wearing black and red striped t-shirts are playing music outdoors using various percussion instruments