While the Belfast Festival has loosened up enough over the past two years to the extent of having an after-hours festival club, with circus acts and live music, this is the first year of an official Fringe. Centred on the Cathedral quarter - a burgeoning area on the northern edge of the city centre - the Fringe encompasses all manner of unusual venues and art forms. Programmes/info from: (Belfast) 660515.
Highlights:
Fringe Film Festival, November 18th-29th, at nearby Yorkgate Movie House, including an evening of tribute to Oliver Postgate (Noggin The Nog, Bagpuss, et al) and a trio of John T. Davis's Northern Irish punk films of the late 1970s. Owen McCafferty's Mojo-Mickybo, Golden Thread Theatre, Wed, November 11th The stunning two man, 14 character evocation of life in Belfast in the 1970s through the eyes and imagination of two young kids. Humour, pathos and forgotten slang at a frenetic pace. A Kabosh production.
Love The Concept. But . . : The Hole in the Wall Gang, Duke of York pub, November 17th - 20th Described as the quintessential fringe act, with anarchic sketches, songs, international festival experience and a public disavowal of The Hole In The Wall Gang. Full Moon: The Albert Clock, November 25th- 28th
An intriguing idea to stage a visual art installation in abandoned Victorian public toilets in the old red light area. Janice Kennedy's jazz quartet: McHugh's, November 13th
