Two rising teenage singing stars are topping the entertainments bill at the forthcoming Lidl Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival, which sees the city act as the home port for the first leg of the annual Tall Ships Race from July 2 – 5.
Sixteen year-old ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ star Bailey McConnell, who has just finished his debut US tour, and Lurgan YouTube sensation Emma Horan will be performing on the main stage, outside the Odyssey Arena, over the weekend.
They will be joined by a host of other acts across the four days of the festival, including The Nooks, Saffyre, the Down and Out String Band and the Broken String Band. There will also be a vibrant line up of world music including Bhangra beats, a fusion of Andalusian and Latin American tunes, rousing African melodies and a unique fusion of Gyspy folk and Irish traditional music.
But, the entertainment isn’t just confined to the main stage, as there will be all sorts of weird and wonderful shenanigans taking place all over the Tall Ships site, which extends from the Titanic slipways right the way around the river to Pollock Dock – which hosted the Tall Ships’ first visit to Belfast back in 1991. Look out for giant lobsters, dancing prawns, wriggling eels, cheeky sea gulls, holidaying penguins, dancing portaloos and zany lifeguards among the many colourful characters who will bring the docks and quaysides to life.
Among the many other activities taking place over the four days, visitors will also be able to enjoy Tall Titanic Tales, full of the best of Belfast humour, introducing some unforgettable characters and certain to please both land lubbers and salty dogs alike, or enter the private library of the distinguished inventor Tarquin Potts where he whips up a chaotic storm on his quest to outwit every circus artist’s worse enemy, gravity!
To mark the departure of the 50 vessels for the first leg of the Tall Ships Race, there will be a fireworks display on the Saturday evening (July 4) and a fly past by the Red Arrows over Titanic Belfast at 11am on the Sunday (July 5).
Details of the full entertainment programme, and everything else that is taking place during the Tall Ships, as well as a downloadable map showing what is happening and where, are available from www.tallshipsbelfast.com.