THE Imagine Festival of Politics and Ideas has always brought its own slant on unusual and interesting events across the city. Now, with a new director at the helm – Mags White-O'Kane, who came from the Belfast International Festival – it has a myriad of opportunities to engage and move you. 

1921 to 2024 is a vast span to research our border culture and then make it into an interactive map, but the Imagine Festival has done just that with the Ireland’s Border Culture project, funded under the HEA North-South Research Programme 2021. It has created  an annotated digital archive of literary and visual art representations of Ireland’s border culture which will be available online for the duration of the festival. The clickable map can be searched by theme or location.

There's a talk by Dr Conor McCabe in the Deer's Head about some recently discovered short stories by James Connolly. First published between 1895 and 1896 under a previously unknown pseudonym, these often humorous tales deal with both personal and political issues and their impact upon the everyday life of an agitator.

Stuart Bailie looks at the music that sustained the civil rights marches and you're invited to join some of the most marginalised communities in Belfast to speak truth to power at Stormont via restorative storytelling. Dr Dónall Mac Cathmhaoill hosts an event in Belfast Central Library on the pivotal point where NI politics meets performance and the stage becomes a space for transformation. It looks at his research on how theatre has been used as a tool and will feature the launch of his new book, 'Theatre and Politics in Post-Conflict Northern Ireland' (University of Exeter Press, 2025).

Art is Collective invites you to 2 Royal Avenue on Thursday morning to join an improv drawing session and at 2pm Tommy Dunlop introduces his new transformative art piece and talks about the power of art to transform his life at different stages. You're invited to change the world through song at Ballynafeigh Community Centre, while Raymond Watson talks about his new book on art and conflict zones in the Golden Thread Gallery.

You can test your knowledge on 'How to Lose a Referendum' with Mark Devenport, Emma De Souza and Aaron Callan at Crescent Arts. Or why not join me on an East-West Glider tour of some interesting churches across the city? If you have ever wanted to see inside a gospel hall or just fancy a journey into the unknown – now's your chance.

The Imagine Festival of Ideas and Politics promises to help you make sense of a crazy world and runs from March 24 to 30 March. Find out more about all of the above and more at imaginebelfast.com