Guts, grassroots and the NI Music Prize headline festival

With the sunny summer festivals a distant memory, Sound of Belfast is aiming to fill the void until Belsonic, Electric Picnic and gigs at Custom House Square and Boucher return next year.

The city-based festival, taking place until 16 November, is dedicated to local artists and will feature soul, rock, folk, trad, electronic and more across 27 venues

Belfast has been a UNESCO City of Music since 2022, a fact being celebrated by Sound of Belfast.

Among the events is Girls With Guts, an all-female line-up of acts headlined by Susi Pagel at the Oh Yeah Centre on Saturday night.

Pagel has been selected as one of the Music for Youth Proms artists and is due to perform at London’s Albert Hall at the end of November.

“It’s really an incredible achievement for her so we’re putting on this show as a bit of a send off,” said promoter Chelsea Andrews.

“Female rock bands are something that I want to shine a light on and give a platform to. There aren’t enough women in rock in Northern Ireland and we want to encourage and inspire the next generation of young girls.”

Another key highlight is VANTA on Saturday, 15 November. This immersive club night is a collaboration between Timmy Stewart and The Fully Automatic Model where light, sound and visuals come together.

“The visuals are going to be created in real time,” said Stewart. “It’s very exciting. We’re going to start at a low BPM and then increase the tempo as the night goes on.

“The whole system has been designed to react. The audience are going to play a big part. As they come in, the music will change as the room fills up.”

On Monday, Bonded will see Rory and Ewen Friers from post-rock mainstays And So I Watch You From Afar talk to BBC Radio Ulster’s Stephen McCauley about the making of their recent album Megafauna, which will also be played in full to a live audience.

Meanwhile, one of the festival’s main draws, the NI Music Prize, takes place on Wednesday.

It will see prizes given out for album of the year, single of the year and more, with a new Gerry Anderson bursary being introduced this year.

It was established when the late broadcaster was awarded a posthumous Outstanding Contribution to Music Award in 2024.

Past album of the year winners have included Foy Vance, Robyn G Shiels, SOAK, Ciaran Lavery, The Wood Burning Savages and Saint Sister.

Claire Hall, the festival’s creative producer and curator, said it’s “incredibly important for Belfast to have a festival like this” that focuses on local artists. and “stands for celebrating grassroots”.

She said the fact that so much of it is hosted at the Oh Yeah Centre is significant, given its role in helping emerging artists.

“We need to find a way of celebrating what we have here rather than everyone having to leave.”

The festival closes on 16 November at the Oh Yeah with a special event celebrating songs from Sinéad O’Connor’s 1994 album Universal Mother.

Artists set to perform include Eve Belle, Chubby Cat, The Brigideens and Róisín Whyte.

Siân (na) from rock band Tramp, will also be taking to the stage as part of a tribute to an Irish music icon.

“I absolutely adore Sinéad O’Connor, everything she stood for and fought for. She was as much an activist as she was a musician.

“When it was pitched to me, we talked about the fire in her songs. It’s an absolute privelage to take part.

“Singing Universal Mother is a powerful way to collaborate.”