Welcome to the Crescent Arts Centre!
What we do: The Crescent is an Arts Centre, a registered charity, and a company limited by guarantee. Our Mission is to be a vibrant and welcoming hub where everyone can experience the power of the arts and develop their creativity. Our vision is a society which actively values and promotes creativity and the arts for everyone.
Funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council, we are open 6-day a week, 9.00 - 9.00pm. Times vary depending on time of year. Click here to plan your visit.
Our Activity Strands
Courses & Workshops: Explore a hobby, earn a qualification, discover your creative talents or try something new. We offer Courses and Workshops across four Terms. Try Burlesque Barre, take an introduction to British Sign Language; practice your creative writing skills; start life drawing.
Crescent Live: This is our Events platform, held mainly in our beautiful space ‘The Cube’. We’re a hub for Festivals, and a platform for showcasing talent, ideas and conversations.
Belfast Book Festival: Our annual June festival celebrates today’s bestselling authors, award-winning poetry and spoken word. We showcase the wealth of local talent that defines our thriving literary community.
Partner Schools: We partner in multi-annual, in-depth ways, with a small number of Neighbourhood Schools (Primary and Secondary) to deliver creative activities and pathway opportunities into the sector.
Creative Hub (Professional): We are a home to professional arts companies and seek to be an affordable place for creative activity – rehearsals, development, meetings. We are a ‘go-to’ venue for Belfast Festivals and events
Creative Hub (General Public): The Crescent is a Grade B listed heritage building, proud of its approach to welcoming citizens into our building. This includes Physical Access; Pricing Access (Free/Drop-in/Pay What you decide activities); Reflecting stories of Belfast in our building.
Last year, more than 5,000 people engaged in the Crescent’s cultural programmes, half of whom were active participants in creative courses and one-off workshops, the other half attended live events. That does not include those who participated in outreach programmes, came to non-ticketed activities, or used the café.
