Out to Lunch Arts Festival hits its double decade!
This new year marks the 20th birthday of OUT TO LUNCH –the boutique, bespoke cultural phenomenon brought to you by Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival.
Out to Lunch 2025 will run from the 4th to 26th January, serving up daily helpings of live music, comedy, spoken word and literature, with a hot lunch thrown in during the working week.
The musical treats include:
- teenage blues sensation Muireann Bradley, a muscular blend of americana and roots from White Horse Guitar Club (fans include one Michael D Higginns).
- We celebrate 40 Years of Tom Wait’s Raindogs in Oh Yeah.
- There’s kick-ass plugged-in blues from The Zac Schulze Gang and lunchtime chamber loveliness from Ulster Orchestra.
- Harpist Ursula Burns launches new album “The Secret Melody of Trees”.
- We’re thrilled to present acclaimed local jazz chanteuse and songwriter Katharine Timoney.
- We welcome trailblazing electronic legends 808 State and
- Brighde Chaimbeul – one of the most exciting talents in celtic folk today,
- Nashville’s enigmatic, musically emphatic Ron Pope and
- brilliant local singer/songwriter Dani Larkin.
- There’s an intimate evening of musical storytelling with John Craigie, and
- old favourites Opera for Lunch (and now also Tea!).
- By special request - Special Consensus on their 50th anniversary tour, bluegrass maestro Tim O’Brien & friends,
- award-winning singer songwriter Emily Barker,
- the utterly wonderful Ennio Morricone Experience
- and a welcome return for the classic and classy stylings of the Swing Gals.
Work up an appetite with Céilí for Lunch, get your skank on with Explosion Sound System vs MC Cheshire Cat, Donegal’s finest Joel Harkin & Band perform Bright Eyes, enjoy horror classic Nosferatu Live as scored by local noise legends Documenta and another Superfly Funk and Souljoint with New Street Adventure/Carmy Love/The Gold Tips/Aaron Craig. All this and the mighty Lindisfarne too…
Literature, theatre and ideas from Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch with his new novel Nobody’s Empire: A Novel, writer veteran music journalist Simon Price discusses his acclaimed Curepedia followed by Spellbound – his famous Brighton club night of new wave and post punk - brought to the Black Box. Author and broadcaster Natalie Haynes makes a welcome return to Out to Lunch,legendary trade union banner maker Ed Hall is in conversation with designer and Rough Trade Books Creative Director Craig Oldham, author Martina Devlin returns with her latest opus – the acclaimed Bronté-themed novel Charlotte. Tenx9 deliver another evening of intimate story-telling and we invite you to A Bob Dylan Brunch with top Dylanologist Tony Villiers. Bewley Café Theatre’sproduction of Grace by James Joyce (starring comedian Terry O’Neill) is a tale of booze, bombast and religious confusion that brilliantly satirises the role of the Catholic Church in early twentieth century Irish life. Lies Where it Falls is acompelling and moving solo play featuring Downton Abbey’s Ruairi Conaghan, as he tells the story of the murder of a loved one and the lasting and unpredictable trauma that flowed from it.
Out to Lunch also serves up an amazing comedy programme featuring Catherine Bohart, Shappi Khorsandi, Andrew Maxwell, Josie Long and Lucy Porter.
We’re also delighted to present top historical tours of the city including the Historic Pubs Tour and the Lights! Camera! Belfast! – a walking tour of historic Belfast cinema sites(from luxury picture palaces to fleeting fleapits), and the award-winning exhibition Women In Revolt! comes to Belfast this January featuring a talk with the exhibition’s curator Linsey Young with Ciara Hickey.
Director Sean Kelly said: “We’re delighted to reach the milestone age of 20 this year with Out to Lunch. People need a pick-me-up in January and Out to Lunch offers just that with a wide range of comedy, music, theatre and film. Add some seriously great lunches too and there’s no longer any need to hibernate in January.
Resilience is everything in the arts these days and incredibly after two decades, Out to Lunch continues to grow and attract new audiences despite the current paucity of arts funding.”
Book now at www.cqaf.com,
