Festival of Fools

The Main bit is a four day international street theatre festival right across the centre of Belfast. Top street artists from around the world and from Belfast too, give more than 120 performances over the May Day Bank Holiday Weekend. The emphasis is on comedy - the more physical and surreal, the better. As well as this, the Festival now stages shows in the Summer in Belfast. In the past, the festival has programmed street theatre as part of the Brighton Festival and OrangeFest in Belfast. The Festival started as a response to 30 years of Troubles and set out to promote shared experience; to show that Belfast City Centre could be a modern European city; using humour and laughter to break down barriers.