{"id":23644,"date":"2025-01-29T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T09:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=23644"},"modified":"2025-01-29T10:01:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T09:01:00","slug":"weaving-connections-at-the-4-corners-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2025\/01\/weaving-connections-at-the-4-corners-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Weaving Connections at the 4 Corners Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The annual 4 Corners Festival is back for another packed lineup of events this year. The festival, which will feature a range of art, music, discussion, sport and faith-inspired events, runs from January 31 to February 9, 2025 in venues across the city.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now in its 13th year, the festival was conceived as a way to inspire people from across the city to transform it for the peace and wellbeing of all.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2025 4 Corners Festival is once again set to inspire connection, reflection and community through a dynamic lineup of events spanning a wide range of disciplines, such as art, music, discussion, sport and other activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Held throughout the city, this year\u2019s programme revolves around the central theme of <\/span>HOME?, <\/span><\/i>an exploration of the complex and multifaceted idea of a place which holds both connection and disjointedness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the festival\u2019s many highlights are two events that weave together tradition, storytelling, and artistry: <\/span>Peacemakers<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>4 Corners Knitters<\/span><\/i>. These events promise to bring people together from all corners of Belfast, creating opportunities for collaboration and reflection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the dome at 2 Royal Avenue, participants will have the opportunity to contribute to <\/span>Peacemakers<\/span><\/i>, a week-long, large-scale French knitting project facilitated by Glasgow-based artists Heidi and Peter Gardner.<\/span><\/p>\n

Visitors can drop in to try their hand at the craft, adding to a growing tapestry of colourful, interconnected threads that reflect the vibrancy and diversity of Belfast\u2019s stories. At the festival\u2019s closing event, the final piece will be stretched out and presented as a symbol of community and shared identity.<\/span><\/p>\n

This marks the first time the Gardners\u2019 acclaimed <\/span>Peace Loom<\/span><\/i> has been brought to Northern Ireland. Since its inception in Scotland in 2014, the installation has been hosted in cities across the UK, engaging participants of all ages and backgrounds. Donations of leftover wool are encouraged and can be brought to the installation throughout the week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Celebrating St Brigid\u2019s Day, the <\/span>4 Corners Knitters<\/span><\/i> event at St John\u2019s Newtownbreda invites knitters and crafters of all levels to gather for a morning of creativity and conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Participants will learn the traditional skill of weaving St Brigid\u2019s crosses. As in previous years, knitted items created during the event will be donated to charities supporting asylum seekers and those experiencing homelessness in Belfast.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking about the upcoming festival, Steve Stockman, 4 Corners Festival co-founder, said the focus is rooted in Belfast and its community.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said: \u201cHome is a powerful metaphor, used by poets, preachers, politicians and others seeking to paint a picture of a sense of belonging to a place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is also used in various encouraging and challenging ways within the Old and New Testament scriptures, but not all homes are happy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the beginning of the 4 Corners Festival we have aimed at encouraging people to get out of the physical corners of this city we call home, and to feel more at home in different parts of their own city; to realise that their home is bigger than they thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fellow festival co-founder Father Martin Magill, hopes the theme of HOME? will bring awareness to the city\u2019s residents, not just shedding light on the encouragement of tourists to the area.<\/span><\/p>\n

Martin said: \u201cThe strapline for Belfast City Council\u2019s current tourism strategy is \u2018Make Yourself at Home\u2019, with a laudable emphasis on inclusion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut what about those who already call Belfast their home \u2013 be they people whose families have lived here from before it became a city, to those who have settled here from all over the world for all kinds of reasons; those who rarely leave their corner of the city, to those who left it years ago but love to come \u2018home\u2019 for special events, including the 4 Corners Festival; those who live in a comfortable home in a vibrant community, to those who are some of the many unseen homeless in our city, not just those who sleep on our streets; those who know every nook and cranny of our city and its complex history, to those who feel uneasy with the direction that the city seems to be heading in the future?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

4 Corners Festival is supported by The Executive Office’s Central Good Relations Fund, The Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund and Belfast City Council Good Relations Fund, St Anne’s Cathedral Sitout and Linen Quarter BID.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information about the festival and to keep up to date with programme updates go to <\/b>4cornersfestival.com<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual 4 Corners Festival is back for another packed lineup of events this year. The festival, which will feature a range of art, music, discussion, sport and faith-inspired events, runs from January 31 to February 9, 2025 in venues across the city.\u00a0 Now in its 13th year, the festival was conceived as a way … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23646,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23644\/revisions\/23646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}