Life

Listen up - the 4 Corners Festival is back

Over 400 pupils from seven schools took part in a Christmas Peace Walk around north Belfast last month; some of them will be involved in the 4 Corners Festival. Picture by Mal McCann
Over 400 pupils from seven schools took part in a Christmas Peace Walk around north Belfast last month; some of them will be involved in the 4 Corners Festival. Picture by Mal McCann Over 400 pupils from seven schools took part in a Christmas Peace Walk around north Belfast last month; some of them will be involved in the 4 Corners Festival. Picture by Mal McCann

FROM small beginnings, 4 Corners has grown to become an annual fixture in Belfast, with the fourth annual festival starting in Belfast next week.

With the them of 'The Art of Listening', it will run from January 28 to February 7 and is driven by the desire to inspire people to cross boundaries - imagined and real - and participate in events in all four corners of the city.

This year's programme is focused on events to help people hear what others have to say about how the city can be transformed, in a programme which includes music, discussions, art, poetry, film and even a churches' walk.

The original 4 Corners Festival had its unlikely genesis in the developing friendship between Catholic priest Fr Martin Magill and Presbyterian minister the Rev Steve Stockman.

"In this wee country we talk a lot, shout a lot, make a lot of speeches, preach a lot," said Mr Stockman, minister of the Fitzroy congregation in the university area, explaining this year's listening theme.

"We always seem ready with our answers before we even hear the questions. This year we want 4 Corners Festival to help us all to learn the spiritual art of listening: to neighbours, to strangers, to the city, to our history and to our future."

Fr Magill of Sacred Heart Parish in north Belfast said that the festival would provide space for people to listen to different voices, including refugees and the young.

"I'm particularly looking forward to listening to what the head and deputy head boys and girls from our post-primary schools from across Belfast have to say at the 'Let them Speak' event on February 5," he said.

"I heard some of those voices from a number of north Belfast schools before Christmas and was greatly encouraged.

"I don't accept the line 'young people are our future'. I say, 'No they're not - they're our present'."

:: A full programme of events can be found at www.4cornersfestival.com.