A NORTH Belfast Residents’ Group have organised an event in Alexandra Park this weekend to bring some ‘positivity’ to the area.
The Open Mic Night will take place on Saturday night (August 21) from 6-9pm. The ticketed event has been completely sold out.
On the night, the audience will be greeted with many different music genres from folk and pop to Irish traditional and jazz music.
All the musicians are from Belfast and surrounding areas and range from an 11-year-old fiddle player to a new and upcoming boyband.
The event has been organised by Newington Residents Group – made up of local Newington residents set up in September last year.
Their aim is to make the local area a cleaner, beautiful, and safer place to live. The group meets regularly to discuss issues raised by residents.
One issue that has been brought up to the group more than once is the ongoing anti-social behaviour in and around Alexandra Park.
The group, after many meetings, discussions and ideas made the decision to focus on the older teenage age group. This was because this is the age group that gets blamed a lot for the anti- social behaviour.
Thanks to some funding from Belfast City Council, they have been able to hire a stage and get a PA system organised for the event.
Aisling Anderson, Chairperson of Newington Residents’ Group said: "The event is to provide an alternative for the young people in the area and will hopefully give them something positive to focus on.
“Everyone in the area is aware that Alexandra Park is in a poor, under used state compared to the much-funded Waterworks and unfortunately it does attract anti-social behaviour.
“We wanted to organise a positive event for the older teens and young adults because there has never been an event held like this in the area. We thought music would be a good way to spread positivity around the park and promote good mental health among young people.’
“We would like to thank Holy Family Youth Centre for their continued support for this event. Young people who attend the club will be helping out on the night.
“There will also be local small businesses attending on the night who will have vendor stands scattered throughout the park. Representatives from mental health organisations will also be in attendance.
“We want to highlight that a lot of the anti-social behaviour in the area is a result of the lack of mental health support and this is something they are keen to help with.
Anyone successful in getting a ticket should enter the park via the Castleton Gardens entrance and are encouraged to bring along a blanket, deck-chair and umbrella.
