BELFAST INSIDER
What’s the craic, Belfast? 👋
We went looking for the good stuff this week and found the perfect Belfast story. A coffee business had a nightmare first day, then Belfast did what Belfast sometimes does best and turned up for them.
We also discovered that some of Manchester United’s gym equipment is made by a Belfast business, and Victoria Square might soon have an aquarium-themed attraction upstairs.
Elsewhere, a Belfast burger favourite is closing two of its current spots, but it’s definitely not the end. Culture Night takes over the city this Friday, 18 September, and we’ve got what you need to know ahead of Sunday’s Belfast City Half Marathon too.
Busy weekend ahead.
Here’s what caught our eye this week 👇
THE DIGEST: Belfast in Brief
Only the good news, promise.
☕ This Belfast entrepreneur had a sad first day until the city turned up
Terri Burns picked possibly the worst possible day to launch her mobile coffee cart, Honey Co, at its new spot near Belfast Harbour on Friday, 4 September.
The day coincided with a major fire that disrupted the docks around her.
Takings: £26.
Terri had sandwiches she wasn’t going to be able to sell, so she decided to give them to the firefighters working nearby instead.
Then she posted about how badly the day had gone.
The video reached around 450,000 views and the next day people deliberately travelled over to buy her coffee. Among her new customers were two PSNI officers who came from Dungannon after seeing the post.
The firefighters also arrived in their engines, sounded the sirens, bought coffees and put money in the tip jar before Terri handed over the sandwiches.
And then, a terrible first day became a very Belfast second one.
💬 What’s the best “locals turned up for someone” moment you’ve seen around Belfast?
🐠 Victoria Square might be getting something like an aquarium
Victoria Square has obtained planning permission to turn two long-empty restaurant units near the Odeon into an “integrated digital technology aquarium themed entertainment visitor attraction venue.” The Irish News reports.
Just so you know, Belfast is not getting a massive shark tank beside Urban Outfitters.
What’s planned is a technology-led aquarium-themed attraction, with a merchandise shop, aimed at families and events.
CastleCourt turned part of the old Debenhams into The Avenue cinema. Now Victoria Square wants something of its own.
💬 Now, what could get you spending more time in Victoria Square?
🏋️ Did you know Manchester United trains on gym equipment made in Belfast?
A Belfast sports company just posted record numbers. BLK BOX has reached £26.7 million in revenue, up 36% in a year.
The company also designs and manufactures training equipment used by Manchester United, the British & Irish Lions, the Ryder Cup and more than 600 PureGym locations worldwide.
Founder Greg Bradley started the business as a university side hustle from his parents’ garage in 2012, according to The Times.
Today it employs around 170 people, most of them in Northern Ireland, and operates from a 130,000 sq ft Belfast manufacturing facility.
There’s something satisfying about watching Premier League football and knowing some of the equipment behind the scenes started life on a Belfast factory floor.
💬 What’s the most surprising “made in Belfast” thing you’ve discovered?
🔗 BLK BOX
🏪 LOCAL BUSINESS SCOOP
Openings, Closures & Buzz Around Town
🍔 Hi Burger is closing two spots. But it’s not what it sounds like.
Hi Burger is shutting down both Banana Block and The Boneyard.
Normally that means bad news but not this time.
The closures are groundwork for the brand’s first standalone restaurant, set to open by mid-October on the Antrim Road.
The team also gave a shout-out to the East Belfast location where it all started and thanked customers for sticking with them throughout the journey.
💬 Tried Hi Burger? What absolutely needs to stay on the menu when the Antrim Road restaurant opens?
🔗 Source: Hi Burger, Instagram
💷 Got an arts or community project that needs backing?
The Ireland Funds has opened a new Heart of the Community Fund round for arts and culture.
At least £370,000 is available across the island, with individual grants ranging from £/€5,000 to £/€25,000 for eligible arts, culture and community organisations.
Applications close at 5pm on Friday 2 October.
Know an organisation doing something interesting?
Send them this.
💬 Who do you know that should be applying for this?
🔗 Source: The Ireland Funds
Your Weekend Lineup
🎟️ WHAT’S HAPPENING:
🎨 Friday belongs to Culture Night
Culture Night Belfast takes over the city this Friday from 4pm to 10pm, with more than 200 free events.
Trying to read all 200 listings sounds like homework.
So here are a few that made us stop scrolling.
💃 Want something wonderfully ridiculous?
Cathy’s Call | Grand Central Station | 7pm
Hundreds of people are being invited to turn up in red and recreate Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights dance.
No experience required.
And no, you don’t need to be called Cathy.
🏃 For people who think normal running is too quiet
NI Rave Run | Big Fish | 8–9pm
A run and rave through Belfast city centre, finishing at Grand Central Station.
Registration required.
🎬 For local-film people
Beanbag Cinema | Exchange Place | 7–10pm
Locally made short films on a loop, marking 22 years of Studio NI.
Beanbags.
Drop in and out.
Fairly self-explanatory.
🎧 For something properly different
SARC Mobile Sound Explorers | Big Fish | 4–7pm
Queen’s Sonic Arts Research Centre is inviting small groups into a mobile recording van to capture sounds around the River Lagan and create their own soundscape.
Sessions last around 20 minutes and are first come, first served.
Very niche.
Very Culture Night.
🚌 And yes, you can actually get home afterwards
Translink is putting on 11 dedicated Metro night-bus routes for Culture Night.
The city-centre departures run at midnight, 1am or 2am, depending on the route, covering the main corridors across north, south, east and west Belfast.
That includes routes towards the Antrim Road, Shore Road, Dundonald, Ormeau Road, Malone Road, Lisburn Road, Falls Road, Shankill and Crumlin Road.
Normal fares apply, and standard tickets, day tickets, Smartcards and concessionary passes can be used.
There’ll also be late-night Goldliner and Urby services for people heading further out.
So you can stay for the late stuff without spending the final hour refreshing a taxi app.
💬 Over to you: You’ve only got time for one. Kate Bush dance, rave run, beanbag cinema or sound safari?
🔗 Full programme: Culture Night Belfast
🔗 Late-night transport: Translink Culture Night update
🏃 Belfast City Half Marathon | Sunday 20 September
Thousands of runners will head through north, south, east and west Belfast on Sunday for 13.1 miles of questionable life choices followed by a medal.
The route starts and finishes around Ormeau Park and runs across the city.
And as usual, there’ll be plenty of people standing along the route shouting encouragement at complete strangers.
Basically another very Belfast form of community service.
💬 Running, cheering, or carefully avoiding the route?
🔗 Source: Belfast City Marathon
💛 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
🎡 A thousand people crossed an interface for a petting farm
North Belfast’s Peace in the Park brought families from communities on both sides of the Alexandra Park interface together for rides, live entertainment, food and a petting farm.
Organisers estimated around 1,000 people attended.
And maybe the nicest thing about it is how ordinary the whole thing sounds.
Just a park being used the way a shared park is supposed to be used.
💬 Which other community events like this one would you like to see more often?
🔗 Source: Belfast Telegraph
🍽️ Foodie Finds:
🍝 Drip might have just become a date-night spot
You probably know Drip on the Ormeau Road for coffee.
Turns out it has plans for your evening too.
Drip has launched its L8 menu with small plates, handmade pasta, wine and cocktails, running Thursday to Saturday from 5pm until late.
Belfast creator Kate Gallagher went down to try it and didn’t hold back, calling it possibly the best food she’s ever had in Belfast.
Her standouts included parmesan churros, porchetta with bean ragout and linguine with scallops, crab and caviar.
The steak pasta was the surprise.
Not something she expected to love, but apparently she kept going back for more.
The bigger surprise might just be Drip itself.
A daytime coffee spot turning into somewhere you’d actually book for date night.
📍 Drip, 332 Ormeau Road, Belfast
🕔 L8 menu: Thursday–Saturday, from 5pm
🍝 Small plates, handmade pasta + cocktails
💬 What Belfast café or daytime spot becomes surprisingly good after dark?
🔗 Watch her review: Kate Gallagher, TikTok
🗳️ POLL OF THE WEEK
👀 YOUR VOICE
Spotted something interesting around Belfast?
A new shop. Strange sign. Brilliant little business. Community project. Something happening on your street that nobody seems to be talking about.
Reply and tell us.
Some of our best finds start with somebody saying:
“Have you seen this?”
At’s us nai.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Forward Belfast Insider to somebody who could use a little more Belfast in their inbox.
The Belfast Insider Team!
Someone forwarded this to you? Subscribe here.