Derry City of Festivals 2022: Hotel bookings up as dates confirmed

Illuminate, a mixture of free large scale outdoor light shows and projections at historic landmarks in the city centre and intimate indoor live music events, attracted thousands to the city centre last night as the festival returned for a second weekend.

Illuminate continues tonight and tomorrow outdoors from 6pm to 9pm and is very much a statement of intent for the city of culture emerging from the pandemic.

Dates for other major Derry festivals and upcoming events in Derry & Strabane have also now been confirmed.

MARCH: St Patrick’s Day Spring Carnival celebrations and parades return for the first time since 2019 on a little over a fortnight’s time on March 17.

Another new festival for Derry begins two days before this on March 15 and runs to March 21. UNBOXED – About US in Derry City centre will feature a large scale show in Guildhall Square with live performances and a large scale multi media installation and canvas with animation and storytelling featuring local choirs, schools, poetry groups and a photography exhibition to celebrate the 13.8 billion years of the planet. See more at www.aboutus.earth Prior to these events Enterprise week from March 7 to 11 will see a series of business focused events promoting entrepreneurship, business support and innovation

APRIL: One of Derry’s most renowned festivals, the City of Derry Jazz festival, is back for 2022 and will run across the city from April 30 to May 2. Earlier in the month the North West Angling Fair returns in Strabane over April 2-3, while the month long Our Place In Space kicks off on April 22. Led by Nerve Centre with support from Council this major art installation of the solar system that will include a trail exhibiting planets that will be 450m to one scale and located from the Bay Road right down to the border at Letterkenny Road – expected to be a major event attracting people from all over NI and wider – the exhibition will travel to other locations in NI later in the year. Runs in Derry until May 22.

MAY: Sunday May 15 will see the Strabane Lifford Half Marathon as Our Place In Space continues in Derry.

JUNE: The Strabane Summer Jamm festival takes place over June 11-12.

JULY: All roads will lead to the quayside along the River Foyle from July 20-24 as the Foyle Maritime Festival returns and prepares to welcome back the Clipper Round the World Race yachts to the Foyle Quayside for family festival of events and a showcase event on the final night.

SEPTEMBER: The Waterside Half Marathon is back on September 4.

OCTOBER: Derry Halloween returns from October 27 to November 1.

Derry & Strabane Council said local businesses were looking forward to another bumper weekend, after a successful first few days of the brand new Illuminate festival experience.

Despite some extremely challenging weather conditions which saw the cancellation of Sunday and Thursday night’s events, the festival attracted thousands of visitors who explored the story of the Walled City told through dramatic digital snapshots which transformed six sites including the Guildhall, the City Walls and St Columb’s Cathedral.

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District, Alderman Graham Warke, said the festival had been extremely positive for the local economy and was a good indicator that the appetite for public events was definitely returning.

“If there is one thing that we do well, it’s festivals and events, and it’s something that has been a huge loss to the city over the past two years. We take great pride in our ability to bring people together to enjoy first class cultural experiences, whether that’s at the Jazz festival, the Foyle Maritime Festival or Halloween.

“Illuminate has shown us that people are just waiting for the chance to get back out there, and with a packed programme of events planned for the city this year it’s a really positive indicator that we have a bumper year ahead. The feedback from our businesses last weekend has been great – despite the challenges thrown at us by the weather. Bars, restaurants and hotels were still buzzing and we expect to see a repeat of that this weekend, and all the benefits that brings to the local economy.”

On the busiest nights of the festival, which ran for six nights over two weekends Feb 17 – 19 and Feb 25-27, hotel occupancy ranged between 87.7% - 94.7%, which is significantly higher than usual for this time of year.

Chair of Council’s Business and Culture Committee, Councillor Conor Heaney, said it was encouraging to see people back out on the streets. “This has been a real lift for the city as we see the ending of restrictions, and a gradual return to some normality. I want to acknowledge the work of all involved in the production of this brand new festival experience, and the innovation and creativity that has allowed us to adapt and successfully deliver events including Halloween and Illuminate.

“We understand the vital role of events in rebuilding the local economy and we will continue to work with our businesses to create opportunities that will boost trade and draw people to enjoy all that our beautiful City has to offer.”

Odhran Dunne, Chief Executive of Visit Derry, said events such as Illuminate can act as a real catalyst to recovery for the local tourism sector.

“We are delighted to see the positive impacts Illuminate has delivered to support the recovery of our tourism and hospitality sector. We’ve seen a great start to the festival with our restaurants and bars reporting a busy weekend. Our hotel partners are seeing the same positive benefits with a significant rise in hotel occupancy over the course of the festival. It demonstrates the significant impact of large-scale events on the region’s growth whilst supporting the extension of the tourist season.

“The events of this scale provide a wonderful platform to showcase the full spectrum of what we have to offer in the Walled City. With events back for 2022, there are exciting times ahead as the city and district continues to grow as a vibrant, must-see destination.”