Belfast awarded Unesco City of Music status

Belfast has been officially recognised as a Unesco City of Music by the United Nations.

The city was awarded the accolade due to its "rich musical heritage" following a bid by Belfast City Council.

It is the third UK city to be given the accolade, previously awarded to Liverpool in 2015 and Glasgow in 2008.

Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody and composer Hannah Peel have been appointed Belfast Music patrons.

Gary Lightbody said music was "woven into the DNA of Belfast".

"I've watched, in these last 25 years of relative peace, the music scene grow and then thrive and now burst at the seams with fearless and limitless talent," he said.

"We have all fought hard for our culture to thrive and the results are plain to see - Belfast's heart beats fervidly with music."

To gain the designation a city must prove it can host national and international music festivals and events.

It must also specialise in music education and have a number of big and small venues for concerts, gigs and recitals.

The city must also promote all genres of music and get as many people as possible playing and listening to it.

Emmy-nominated composer Hannah Peel welcomed the accolade and said Belfast was an "alive, vibrant and musically powerful city".

"We are so much more than just Van Morrison and the Undertones," she said.

"There is female-empowered punk, new wave, Brit-nominated EDM, jazz and an abundance of classical music that runs through the veins of the city.

"Yet to the wider world it is all unheard of, underground, eclipsed by its past but still supplying a pulse and vibrancy that needs to be lauded for the future."

The bid for Unesco City of Music status was first raised in 2019 as part of Belfast City Council's 10-year cultural strategy.

It followed a council survey of 20,000 people which asked: "What does home mean to you?"

Music was a recurring theme in the responses.

Belfast's Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl said it was "wonderful news" for Belfast.

"Belfast is proud of its music culture. Creativity and resilience are in the very fabric of our city and our people," she said.

Previously the city had been bidding to become the European Capital of Culture in 2023 alongside Derry and Strabane.

However, the European Commission ruled that a UK city could not host the title after Brexit.

Unesco said City of Music status would "open a new era of collaboration between the city, citizens and music communities" in Belfast and further afield.

It said Belfast will now work to deliver "a series of high-profile musical events" over the coming years.

Music will also be "woven into public spaces and places to ensure the power and benefits of music can be felt by all who live, work in or visit the city," it said.