EastSide Partnership is delighted to announce that the ninth C.S. Lewis Festival will take place at various locations across east Belfast from 18 – 22 November 2021. This year’s programme includes festival favourites such as guided walking tours of Strandtown and Belfast City Cemetery, children’s storytelling in Holywood Arches Library and the annual festive market and Christmas lights ‘switch on’ in C.S. Lewis Square.
Recognising Northern Ireland’s Centenary, a number of this year’s festival events will explore the themes of identity and belonging. This includes a special evening in St. Mark’s Church with friend of the C.S. Lewis Festival, Roger Courtney, and renowned historian, Myrtle Hill, discussing the Lewis’s own unwavering identity as an Irish writer against a backdrop of significant constitutional change during his lifetime.
Local singer songwriter Duke Special is set to delve into these themes further through an evening of storytelling and song at Belmont Bowling Club in Ballyhackamore. Entitled ‘It was only a Dream’, this uniquely collaborative event will see Duke Special & Friends explore how the tradition of music and song can echo, reinforce or even contradict who we are and the feelings we hold about the places we live.
Speaking as this year’s C.S. Lewis Festival programme was announced, EastSide Tourism Manager, Chris Armstrong, said
“We are really excited to announce this year’s C.S. Lewis Festival programme on 18 – 22 November. This annual festival has always been about celebrating creativity and of course C.S. Lewis’s own very special connection to east Belfast.”
“We hope to do this in a fun and engaging way which connects with people of all ages, backgrounds and beliefs. Whether you are visiting this part of the city for the first time or you have lived here your whole life.”
“In this Centenary year we felt there was a unique opportunity to also look at belonging and how, over the last 100 years, cultural identity and a deeply held connection to place has influenced the work of Lewis and indeed countless other creatives from Northern Ireland and beyond.”
“We would like to thank the National lottery Heritage Fund and Northern Ireland Office for supporting a number of this year’s festival events through the Shared History Fund as well as our dedicated and loyal festival sponsors Hewitt & Gilpin Solicitors.”
For the full festival programme and ticket information please visit www.visiteastside.com/events
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