Belfast’s 4 Corners Festival moves online

Tuesday January 26th 2021

The Rev Steve Stockman, left, minister of Fitzroy Presbyterian Church, and Fr Martin Magill PP of St John’s Church, Falls Road ,discussing the upcoming 4 Corners Festival. Picture by Bernie Brown.

Northern Ireland’s first ever inter-Church arts festival will proceed despite Covid-19 by going online.

The Belfast 4 Corners Festival, now in its nineth year, co-founded by its Joint Chairs, Presbyterian minister, the Rev Steve Stockman and Catholic priest, Fr Martin Magill, will livestream 30 events from January 31 to February 7.

The festival announced its line-up on its website 4cornersfestival.com.

Due to the lack of social contact, the organisers cannot spread word about the festival as they normally do and must rely heavily on social media.

Plans to invite a limited number of members of the public to attend some of the events had to be abandoned owing to the current health emergency.

BREATHE

The festival’s theme is Breathe – from the Hebrew word Ruach which means ‘breath’ or ‘spirit’ – the source of life. The organisers say they are ‘trying to breathe hope and creativity into our very difficult situation.’

They added: “It is still our intention to invite people in Belfast and elsewhere to pause and take the deep breath we all need at this exceptionally trying moment in our history.”

The programme includes a keynote speech by United States-based Professor John Paul Lederach, an internationally acclaimed author and expert in conflict resolution plus contributions from the Jamaica-born singer-songwriter and teacher Raquel McKee, and the poet and theologian, Pádraig Ó Tuama.

There is an evening in the company of Belfast songwriter and performer Duke Special.

Hot button issues coming under the spotlight include domestic violence which has soared during the pandemic and racism, underlined by the killing of George Floyd in America, states the festival programme.

The discussion on domestic violence – taking place in the wake of the passing of new legislation in the Assembly earlier this month – will include Dr Olive Buckley OBE, a family GP and forensic medical doctor; Detective Superintendent Lindsay Fisher from Public Protection Branch, PSNI, and The Rev Alan Lorimer, a chartered psychologist and Methodist minister.

A discussion on resilience will be moderated by the award-winning former BBC broadcaster, Seamus McKee.

‘ROUGH’

The ugly face of paramilitary-style ‘justice’ in post-conflict Northern Ireland is depicted in the screening of the short film Rough followed by an online panel discussion including its writers Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson.

“We had planned a programme of online-only and blended in-person/online events, Covid-19 regulations permitting,” stated a festival spokesperson.

“However, given the deteriorating situation around the pandemic and the introduction of new tighter restrictions we have decided to proceed on the basis of a festival accessible only on-line. But one still true to 4 Corners’ original vision of inspiring people to cross traditional boundaries.

“Due to the lack of social contact we cannot spread the word about our festival as we normally do, so we must rely heavily on social media and would greatly appreciate your help in letting others know about the events. Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and share our posts whenever you can.”

The mission of the 4 Corners Festival is ‘to inspire people from across the city [of Belfast] to transform it for the peace and prosperity of all.’

It promises ‘innovative events designed to entice people out of their own ‘corners’ of the city and into new places where they will encounter new perspectives, new ideas, and new friends’ and to ‘celebrate our city through music, prayer, storytelling, discussion, and more.’

Morning and Night Prayer will be streamed throughout the festival and a special BBC Radio Ulster Morning Service will be aired.