BELFAST INSIDER
This week in Belfast ☀️
Hello Insider,
Northern Ireland accidentally became the Mediterranean for 48 hours this week. Armagh hit 26.3°C, the warmest day of 2026 so far. It landed right on the May Bank Holiday Monday, which was the final day of the Belfast Spring Market, and the city absolutely took the hint.
Botanic Gardens filled up. Helen's Bay looked like a Ryanair flight had landed directly onto the sand. Every pub with outdoor seating suddenly became prime real estate.
Funny how Belfast always feels different in good weather. People smile more at strangers. Nobody's in a rush, and the whole city softens a bit.
Anyway, let’s get into this week’s craic →
THE DIGEST: Belfast in Brief
Only the good news, promise.
🚢 Belfast Harbour is thinking bigger than Belfast
Belfast Harbour just dropped a £1.3 billion expansion plan with one audacious idea at its centre: Dublin Port will run at full capacity by 2040, and Belfast intends to step in. We are talking new container terminals, deeper quays, and a serious push into offshore wind.
The groundwork is already showing. The newly refurbished Belfast Harbour Marina just reopened with 67 new berths and a Blue Flag accreditation, perfectly timed for the GP14 World Championship arriving this August. It is the same stretch of water where 950 drones recently recreated the full outline of the Titanic in light, floating above the shipyard at the precise hour she left in 1912.
One waterfront. Three stories. All pointing toward an ambitious future.
💬 Is Belfast finally starting to think like a city that expects to lead something? What do you think of the grand plan?
💷 Northern Ireland tourism just hit £1.2 billion
Northern Ireland's tourism economy just hit £1.2 billion. Up 9% in a year.
The really interesting number is buried in the detail: visitors from the Republic jumped 15% and spent £317 million here in 2025. That's nearly a third of a billion pounds from people crossing the border for a weekend, a concert, or a coastal drive.
With Belfast hosting Fleadh Cheoil this August and around 700,000 visitors expected, next year's tourism figures could look properly wild.
Worth noting, too: 70% of overnight trips take place outside Belfast. Fermanagh, the Mournes, the north coast quietly cashing in while Belfast gets the headlines.
💬What place in Northern Ireland deserves way more visits from tourists?
🛍️ Belfast extends Sunday trading hours (briefly)
Belfast is extending Sunday trading hours, but only for two weekends in August to handle the Fleadh influx, after the original proposal for 18 weekends was walked back.
The compromise covers August 2 to 9 only.
Right now, large shops can only open from 1 pm to 6 pm on Sundays. This has turned into a bigger conversation about what kind of city Belfast actually wants to be.
The 82% majority who backed extending the hours clearly want more flexibility, but Retail NI's Glyn Roberts made the sharpest point: just making Sunday feel like Saturday shows a "poverty of ambition."
Belfast Sundays still have their place. Slower, quieter and stubbornly the same.
The debate about whether to keep it is still worth having.
💬 Should Belfast keep its slower Sundays or fully open things up?
🏪 LOCAL BUSINESS SCOOP
Openings, Closures & Buzz Around Town
🏆 Belfast Chamber Business Awards 2026: Entries still open
The Belfast Chamber Business Awards are back for 2026 and entries are still open. Eighteen categories, all free to enter, and a Gala Night on October 16th, where Belfast's business community gets together to properly celebrate itself.
Whether you're a startup that's had a breakout year or an established name finally ready to put your hand up, this is the one to enter.
📅 Entries close: August 28th. Shortlist announced the week commencing September 21st.
🌿 Rural Micro Capital Grant: Up to £2,500 available now
If you're part of a rural community group doing real work around poverty or social isolation, there's up to £2,500 available right now through DAERA's Rural Micro Capital Grant Scheme, designed for smaller, grassroots organisations that often get overlooked by larger funding programmes.
Grants range from £500 to £2,500 and can be used for equipment, minor capital works, or energy efficiency improvements.
⚠️ Applications close 12 noon, Monday 22nd June.
Don't sit on this one.
Your Weekend Lineup
🎟️ WHAT’S HAPPENING:
Your guide to what’s on across Belfast & Northern Ireland
AVA Festival kicks things off properly on Friday at the Titanic Slipways, but honestly, every night this week has something worth leaving the house for. Here's the full rundown.
Thursday 28th May
Friday 29th May
Saturday 30th May
Sunday 31st May
Monday 1st June
Tuesday 2nd June
🎶Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit | Ulster Hall | 7:00 PM
💛 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
Men's Alliance NI (MANi)
Men's Alliance NI exists because male victims of domestic abuse often had nowhere to go.
Founded in 2018 by people with lived experience, MANi runs private regional Facebook support groups where men can speak anonymously with people who actually understand what they're dealing with. Beyond the online support, they coordinate counselling, bi-weekly Zoom meetings, and in-person walks and social events to help rebuild community after isolation.
They also advocate directly with the Housing Executive around emergency housing, provide safety planning, and are working toward opening Northern Ireland's first crisis refuge for men.
Grassroots. Peer-led. Quietly filling a gap the system still hasn't fully caught up with.
💬What local organisation do you think deserves more attention in Northern Ireland?
🍽️ FOODSPOT OF THE WEEK
🥢 Lanting, University Street
This week's food spot comes from Belfast food creator Lindsay Butler, who took her friend Leah out for a birthday Chinese and came back talking about garlic butter chips like they’d changed her life.
The spot is Lanting and the star of the show was the sharing duck, crispy, salt and chilli, served with the full pancake setup. The dumplings got a mention too. The beef was described as "big chunky bits, so soft." But apparently, the sweet and sour pork stole the night. Naturally, it belonged to somebody else at the table.
"That was the nicest Chinese. Garlic butter chips. Maybe my new favourite Chinese."
Strong statement from someone who's clearly done the rounds.
The vibe: Sit-down restaurant. Birthday dinner energy.
Drinks: Cocktails 3 for £26
Find it: 1 University Street, Belfast BT7 1FY 📸 Watch Lindsay's review | 🌐 lanting.app
@lyndsay_butler A duck carved at your table? Yes please @Lanting Chinese Restaurant BT7 #belfast #northernireland #belfastchinese #chinesebelfast #invite ... See more
💬 YOUR VOICE
What does Belfast get absolutely right in good weather?
The beaches? Beer gardens? Sea swims? Everyone suddenly pretending they love hiking?
🗳️ POLL OF THE WEEK
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Belfast Insider is by people who live here, for people who live here. No crime. No politics. Just the good craic.
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See you next week & follow us on Insta.
The Belfast Insider team.