Entertainment

Essential festival: Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival 2017

Neil Hannon will bring The Divine Comedy to this year's Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival
Neil Hannon will bring The Divine Comedy to this year's Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival Neil Hannon will bring The Divine Comedy to this year's Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival

THE programme for Belfast's 18th Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (CQAF) has been unveiled with more than 150 events set to take place across 30 venues between April 27 and May 7.

Music headliners include The Handsome Family, Divine Comedy, Sugarhill Gang, Wreckless Eric, Brix and The Extricated, The Parrots, Kevin Rowland, Cara Dillon, Booker T Jones, Robert Cray, Dana Masters, Interskalactic, Chip Taylor, Kila, Madison Violet, Duke Special and Ulaid, Ryan McMullan, The Comet is Coming, Keith James singing Leonard Cohen, Tir na Nog, Josienne Clark and Ben Walker, Christine Bovill singing Edith Piaf, Harlow Fair and the first ever 'festival artist in residence', Rosie Carney.

The CQAF comedy line-up features top names like Rich Hall, Richard Herring, Tony Law, Jeremy Hardy, Sofie Hagan, Bridget Christie and Kieran Hodgson, while the festival will also be bringing some special events to Belfast including former Spider from Mars Woody Woodmansey talking about his time as a member of David Bowie's most famous backing band, plus verse from Roger McGough and Linton Kwesi Johnson and food talk served up by Jack Monroe.

The theatre programme features Prime Cut’s award-winning Scorch, the Irish premiere of Omnibus Theatre’s acclaimed Peru 2 production Mule and Splodar Theatre’s Joycean homage, Young Stephen.

There will be movies too, including a Northern Ireland premiere for the acclaimed 1990s Scottish indie doc Lost in France, Bang!'s expose of Bert Berns, the most famous 60s songwriter you've probably never heard of, and folk horror fun with SingalongaWickerman.

:: Full programme and ticket details available now via CQAF.com