{"id":24191,"date":"2025-07-12T08:11:42","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T07:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=24191"},"modified":"2025-07-12T08:11:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T07:11:42","slug":"orangefest-brings-family-fun-and-culture-to-belfast-city-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2025\/07\/orangefest-brings-family-fun-and-culture-to-belfast-city-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"Orangefest Brings Family Fun and Culture to Belfast City Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A full day of entertainment, colour and celebration is set to take place at Belfast City Hall today (12th July) as Orangefest returns with a packed schedule of family-friendly activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Running from 10am to 3.30pm, this year\u2019s Orangefest will once again complement the 335th annual demonstration of the Battle of the Boyne with music, performances, food and vibrant festivities at the heart of the city centre.<\/span><\/p>\n

Established in 2007, Orangefest continues to enhance the well-known Twelfth parades with a wide range of inclusive and engaging activities for all ages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marking a significant milestone in this year\u2019s proceedings, the County Grand Orange Lodge of Belfast will celebrate 50 years of parading alongside the Millar Memorial Flute Band. As the official County Band, the Millar Memorial is a highly respected melody flute band known for its international appearances and performances at events such as the Belfast Tattoo.<\/span><\/p>\n

Events in the City Hall grounds will begin early, with Millar Memorial leading the parade into City Hall from approximately 10.20am for a short remembrance service and wreath-laying at the cenotaph to honour the fallen of the two world wars and subsequent conflicts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the morning and into the afternoon, the City Hall grounds will transform into a family-friendly hub of entertainment, including a wide range of walkabout performers, live circus acts and face painting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Live street theatre will be delivered by Circusful, featuring stilt walkers, unicyclists, acrobats, jugglers and walkabout characters. Visitors can look forward to shows from MacFactor and FizzWizzPop, alongside drop-in circus skills and a community drumming workshop.<\/span><\/p>\n

Food NI will be on-site throughout the day hosting cooking demonstrations in the Theatre Kitchen. Demos will include traditional Northern Irish favourites such as stout wheaten bread, soda bread and scones, with free public samples available after each session.<\/span><\/p>\n

Visitors will also be able to enjoy a wide selection of food trucks, local produce stalls and refreshments across the event site.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the family activities, guided tours of Belfast City Hall will be available throughout the day, offering visitors a chance to explore the city\u2019s heritage and iconic architecture.<\/span><\/p>\n

This year, Orangefest is also delighted to welcome visiting dignitaries from Scotland, including the Grand Master of Scotland, the Grand Mistress of Scotland, and four County Grand Masters from across Glasgow, Central, East and West Scotland. The Scottish delegation will join the morning programme, arriving in time for formal proceedings at Belfast City Hall.<\/span><\/p>\n

Belfast County Grand Master Spencer Beattie said the team behind Orangefest are \u201cproud to be bringing back a day of celebration, community and culture for 2025.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThis year, we once again want to encourage families, visitors and locals to stay and enjoy the city centre. Orangefest is all about creating a welcoming and inclusive environment that supports both cultural expression and local business.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany city centre retailers have committed to staying open from 1pm to 5pm, and we would urge those attending to support local traders and enjoy what Belfast has to offer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Retailers across the city centre have confirmed they will remain open from 1pm to 5pm, encouraging spectators and visitors to enjoy shopping and hospitality while attending the day\u2019s events. The return leg of the main Twelfth parade is expected to reach the city centre by approximately 5pm.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those travelling to <\/span>Barnett Demesne (\u201cthe field\u201d) it will also play host to a day of family fun with free entry to a range of attractions including children\u2019s activities, live entertainment, food and refreshment vans, stalls and platform proceedings. The 2025 guest speaker at Barnett Demesne is Gavin Robinson MP.<\/span><\/p>\n

Orangefest is delivered in collaboration with the County Grand Orange Lodge of Belfast and is designed to promote inclusion, community and culture as part of Northern Ireland\u2019s largest annual public celebration. This year\u2019s event at City Hall is supported by Belfast City Council.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information go to <\/i><\/b>belfastorangefest.com<\/i><\/b><\/a>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A full day of entertainment, colour and celebration is set to take place at Belfast City Hall today (12th July) as Orangefest returns with a packed schedule of family-friendly activities. Running from 10am to 3.30pm, this year\u2019s Orangefest will once again complement the 335th annual demonstration of the Battle of the Boyne with music, performances, … 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\/24191"}],"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=24191"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24193,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24191\/revisions\/24193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}