The fiddles have gone home and Belfast is almost back to normal.

But the numbers from last week are still sinking in.

More than 1.65 million visits were recorded through Belfast city centre, a new footfall record. And now that the Fleadh is done, some interesting questions have started popping up.

And the Fleadh wasn’t the only international event in town. International sailors have arrived on Belfast Lough for the GP14 World Championships 2026.

There’s more than £13m being allocated to business growth programmes across Northern Ireland, plus Ravenhill Road has finally got its own café.

Here’s everything we find interesting →

Only the good news, promise.

More than 1.65 million visits were recorded across Belfast city centre during the eight-day festival. That's more than double the 800,000-plus visitors originally expected, and 89% higher than the same week last year.

Saturday was the big one.

289,560 people were recorded in the city centre, making it the busiest day since footfall records began in 2018.

And it wasn't just the streets.

Translink recorded more than 1.7 million passenger journeys during the Fleadh, while Belfast's accommodation sector reached 84.6% occupancy.

Not bad for a festival that, a few weeks ago, some people were still wondering whether Belfast could handle.

🔗 Belfast City Council

💭Be honest: Did you spend more money in Belfast because of the Fleadh?

The Fleadh may be over, but it's left Belfast with a slightly awkward question.

What if the city centre just stayed car-free?

Parts of Belfast were pedestrianised for the festival, and the reaction's been loud enough that a public consultation on making some of it permanent is now on the way, expected in the next few weeks.

There are obvious questions around buses, accessibility, deliveries, businesses and traffic.

But there's also the small matter of what happened when the cars weren't dominating the streets.

People actually stayed.

They walked around. Sat outside. Let the kids wander about. And the city centre felt busy in a way that wasn't entirely about getting from A to B.

The Fleadh was temporary.

The conversation about what Belfast should look like afterwards probably won't be.

Over to you: should Belfast go car-free in the city centre? Yes, no, or somewhere in between?

🔗Belfast Telegraph

Belfast Lough is currently welcoming a different kind of international crowd.

More than 200 sailors from around the world are in Northern Ireland for the GP14 World Championships, with more than 100 boats competing.

The championships are being hosted by the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club and run until Friday 14 August.

The clever bit? Every boat has GPS tracking, so you can follow the racing online rather than standing on the shore trying to work out which tiny speck is winning.

🔗Read more

💭 Fancy watching some sailing?

Openings, Closures & Buzz Around Town

Apparently, there has been a bit of a café-shaped hole on Ravenhill Road for a while now, but not anymore.

186 Coffee Bar recently opened on Ravenhill this week, serving coffee and bakes from early morning, with a wine bar planned for later.

It's the sort of small opening that probably won't make the evening news, but could become part of someone's weekly routine pretty quickly.

Coffee on the way to work, meeting with a mate, sitting with a laptop pretending to work.

That neighbourhood now has a new spot to hang out.

More than £13.292 million of Local Growth Fund capital has been allocated to programmes supporting businesses and economic growth across Northern Ireland.

That includes £7.1m for Invest NI programmes focused on innovation and R&D, plus £1.7m for Go Succeed to support start-ups and business growth.

If you're building a business, developing a new product, investing in R&D or looking to grow, it's worth checking what support you may be eligible for.

🔗 Find out more from the DFE

🍺 Want your business featured? [Get in touch →]

The good stuff happening across Belfast and beyond.

A London favourite is coming to Belfast for the first time.

Whether you grew up with these flavours or you're trying them for the first time, expect big, generous plates, bold flavours, and a room full of cool strangers.

Sunday 30 August · Trait Late, High Street · 3pm

£75 per person.

(Complimentary bottle of wine served per table).

Get your ticket →

Belfast psychedelic post-punkers Madams Last Discovery are getting their own homecoming moment on the big screen.

Homecoming captures their sold-out Ulster Sports Club show and gets its world premiere at Accidental Theatre this Friday, 14 August at 8:15pm.

A gig. A film. A room full of people who were probably at the original show.

Tickets from £12.

Find out more →

🎭 Matilda Jr. · The MAC · 2:30pm

🎤 K-POP ALL STARS · Waterfront Hall · 7:30pm

🎸 Word of Mouth Presents: AOA + Special Guests · Oh Yeah Music Centre · 7pm

📢 United We Stand Live · The Limelight · 7pm

🎬 Madams Last Discovery: Homecoming · Accidental Theatre · 8:15pm

🎙️ Cavehill Comedy Club 2nd Birthday · Carlisle Memorial Church · 6:30pm

🎧 Ben Hemsley, Denis Sulta & Locklead · Custom House Square · 6pm

🌸 Ladies Garden Party · Hillsborough Castle & Gardens · 12:30pm

🎶 A Celebration of Life with Foy Vance, Joshua Burnside & Vittorio Angelone · Custom House Square · 6pm

🎭 The Odyssey: The Musical Comedy · The Black Box · 7pm

🧸 Belfast Collectables & Toy Fair · Clayton Hotel · 9am

🐾 Pawchella · Hilden Brewery · 12pm

🍔 Moira Speciality Food Fair · Main Street, Moira · 4pm

🎸 The Proclaimers · Custom House Square · 6pm

🎻 Ulster Youth Orchestra Summer Concert · Ulster Hall · 7:30pm

A new health event is coming to Ulster University on Saturday 24 October, built by a local who lost 50kg and wanted to create the event they wished existed.

It's deliberately small, with just 50 places, and promises real practitioners rather than rows of lecture slides.

Early bird tickets are available now.

Find out more →

🎼 BBC Radio 3 Concert: Spring, Song and Celebration · Ulster Hall · Tuesday 18 August

🎤 Erin Kinsey · The Limelight · Tuesday 18 August · 7pm

🪘 The Wailers · Mandela Hall · Wednesday 19 August · 7pm

🎭 Hadestown (Teen Edition) · The MAC · Wednesday 19 August · 7:30pm

🎻 The people behind the Fleadh

The Fleadh might be over, but the people who made Belfast come alive for eight days haven't disappeared.

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann has been keeping traditional Irish music, song and dance alive since 1951. What started with a group of musicians in Mullingar has grown into an international organisation with branches in 22 countries.

The interesting bit isn't really the global footprint, it's the fact that the festival still happens locally.

The Fleadh gave Belfast a very big stage for Irish traditional music. Comhaltas is part of the reason the music was already here.

They recently launched a new Education Prospectus 2035, setting out an ambitious ten-year strategy for the development of education in Irish traditional music, song, dance and the Irish language.

Learn more →

Looking for Japanese food in Belfast? Food blogger Kevz recently paid a visit to Ginza Kitchen, and the ramen seems to be the thing to know about.

The Genza Spicy Combo Ramen comes with braised pork belly, pork mince and a ramen egg, with a deep, creamy broth and plenty of heat.

Then came the sushi rolls, chicken karaage, salmon sashimi and eel nigiri.

His verdict?

The best ramen he's had in Belfast.

We'll leave that one with you.

We found this so hilarious. It perfectly captures how shocked people will be when they visit an almost quiet city centre after the Fleadh ended.

What do you think of today’s edition?

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What did you discover in Belfast this week?
A new café? A great pint? A brilliant session? Somewhere you've never noticed before?

Reply to this email and tell us.

We might feature it in next week's Belfast Insider.

Until next time,

Let’s get the craic on!

The Belfast Insider Team