{"id":24135,"date":"2025-06-24T16:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T15:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=24135"},"modified":"2025-06-24T16:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T15:46:09","slug":"department-for-communities-backs-return-of-orangefest-programme-in-belfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2025\/06\/department-for-communities-backs-return-of-orangefest-programme-in-belfast\/","title":{"rendered":"Department For Communities Backs Return Of Orangefest Programme In Belfast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has confirmed funding to support the reigniting of the cultural organisation Orangefest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Belfast Orangefest, first established by the County Grand Lodge of Belfast in 2007, was originally designed to modernise the Twelfth of July celebrations to make them more accessible, inclusive, and relevant to contemporary Belfast.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, in recent years the committee at Orangefest have developed a wider strategy of activities which will see the Orangefest brand being used throughout the year for education, celebration and commemoration events.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBelfast Orangefest\u2026A New Beginning\u201d, the project funded by the Department for Communities is supporting the organisation to identify funding streams, outreach opportunities and partnerships as well as provide critical funds for day to day infrastructure and operations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The funding is just the beginning of a new three-year plan by Orangefest to create a year-round cultural engagement programme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Minister Lyons said: \u201cI am pleased to confirm funding of more than \u00a340,000 from my department for the 2025 Orangefest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOrange celebrations are one of the largest, long-standing events of their kind in Belfast, attracting tens of thousands of visitors from across the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis support will enable Orangefest to engage with other bodies to make this year\u2019s Twelfth of July celebrations an even more inclusive and family friendly event.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This year, thanks to funding from Belfast City Council, Orangefest will deliver a programme of family entertainment at Belfast City Hall from 10am to 3.30pm.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rejuvenation of Belfast Orangefest is led by a dedicated Board of Directors, who are working towards increasing city centre footfall, supporting tourism growth, developing a wider community engagement programme and strengthening inter-community relations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Orangefest director Spencer Beattie said: \u201cThis new funding marks an important step forward for Belfast Orangefest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives us the opportunity to work behind the scenes to secure the necessary funding and partnerships to not only to reinvigorate the Twelfth of July celebrations, but also to deliver a year-round programme that reflects the heritage, culture and diversity of our city.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re committed to building meaningful connections with communities right across Belfast and creating opportunities for learning, participation and shared celebration.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A key aim of the Orangefest directors is to contribute to Belfast\u2019s evolving cultural landscape by offering opportunities for regeneration, leadership, skills development and inclusive participation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This announcement of funding to support the growth and development of Orangefest reaffirms the organisation\u2019s role in promoting understanding of the Orange tradition while opening doors for wider cultural exchange and collaboration across Belfast\u2019s communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information go to <\/i><\/b>belfastorangefest.com<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has confirmed funding to support the reigniting of the cultural organisation Orangefest. Belfast Orangefest, first established by the County Grand Lodge of Belfast in 2007, was originally designed to modernise the Twelfth of July celebrations to make them more accessible, inclusive, and relevant to contemporary Belfast.\u00a0 However, in recent years the … 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":[1876,1818,1877],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24135"}],"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=24135"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24137,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24135\/revisions\/24137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}