Belfast is buzzing with excitement as it prepares to host the Fleadh Cheoil this August! As the world’s largest annual festival celebrating Irish traditional music, song, and dance, it’s set to attract over 800,000 visitors to our city. A top priority for the organisers is ensuring that every single visitor experiences a warm welcome and an inclusive, accessible event.
To make this a reality, a wide range of accessible facilities and support services will be available throughout the week-long festival. These include additional accessible toilets, dedicated Changing Places facilities, sign interpretation and captioning for several events, comfortable seated rest areas, and quiet spaces for those needing a break. You’ll also find improved kerb ramps, a free shuttle bus service, and dedicated accessible parking to help everyone get around easily.
A fantastic new feature is the drop-in Accessibility Hub, located in CastleCourt Shopping Centre (unit 59 on the first floor, 63 Royal Avenue). This hub will be open daily from Sunday, August 2nd to Sunday, August 9th, from 11 am to 7 pm. It’s operated by the leading arts and disability organisation, Open Arts, with invaluable support from volunteers from Volunteer Now.
Open Arts Chief Executive Officer, Eileen Branagh, highlights that the hub will be a central, welcoming, calm, and quiet space. It’s perfect for anyone needing a break from the Fleadh's excitement, especially for Disabled, neurodivergent, and D/deaf visitors. Inside, you’ll find sensory supports like ear defenders and fidget tools, and assistance dogs are warmly welcomed with water bowls available.
Beyond being a tranquil retreat, the Hub will serve as an information point, offering clear and accessible guidance on Fleadh events, venues, and services. Staff and volunteers will provide advice on accessibility and wayfinding queries, and signpost to relevant support. Open Arts has also prepared communicative and interpretive aids, including visual resources, clear signage, and printed accessible information. Plus, Access Guides, created in partnership with disabled people, are available on the Fleadh website. Trained volunteers from Volunteer Now will be on hand, briefed by Open Arts on inclusive approaches to ensure everyone feels supported. CastleCourt itself also provides accessible toilets, lifts, escalators, and a Changing Place.
Getting around Belfast during the Fleadh will be made easier with accessible transport options. For those needing to hire a wheelchair or mobility scooter, ShopMobility is conveniently located just behind CastleCourt in Smithfield Market.
Accessible shuttle buses will operate from Fleadh Park & Ride sites (Eikon Exhibition Centre near the M1, Giant’s Park near the M2, and Belfast Harbour near the M3) and between campsites at Falls Park, Ormeau Park, and Titanic Quarter, connecting to the city centre. Each Park & Ride site will have designated Blue Badge parking close to the shuttle pick-up points. Blue Badge holders can also use Dunbar Street (outside Common Market) and Smithfield car parks (behind CastleCourt) during the event.
Belfast boasts several permanent Changing Places facilities, including at Belfast Zoo, CastleCourt, City Hall, Crescent Arts Centre, Lanyon Place Train Station, Ulster Museum, and Victoria Square. More information can be found at www.changing-places.org/find.
During the Fleadh, additional temporary accessible toilet provisions will be available in City Hall grounds, Fountain Lane, Hill Street, and Verner Street (beside St George’s Market), with a minimum of two accessible Portaloos at each site. A parent and child changing space will be available in City Hall grounds and on Hill Street, and a mobile Accessoloo changing place toilet will be at the rear of 2 Royal Avenue in the city centre.
For the highly anticipated Fleadh opening and closing ceremonies on the Gig Rig stage in City Hall grounds, a limited number of free tickets for the accessible viewing area are available via the Fleadh Cheoil website. For the rest of the Fleadh week, this dedicated accessible viewing space at the Gig Rig will be unticketed and free to access for all. The AccessAble website is also a fantastic resource, providing extensive information on accessible venues across Belfast, including hotels, visitor attractions, shops, restaurants, and bars.
Beyond the festival grounds, there’s been a significant effort to boost accessibility across Belfast’s tourism and hospitality sectors. Earlier this year, a free ‘Embrace the Inclusive Spirit’ workshop was provided for local businesses, offering practical advice and insights from disabled travellers themselves. Free training and videos were also made available, focusing on confident communication with people who have hearing loss, are D/deaf (including sign language users), blind or partially sighted, Autistic, have learning disabilities, use wheelchairs or mobility scooters, or have non-visible disabilities. Vouchers up to £500 were even offered to businesses to help them improve visitor experiences through staff training, sensory packs, more accessible websites, and updated signage. These partnerships with organisations like Open Arts and Volunteer Now are crucial to delivering a truly inclusive Fleadh.