A UNIQUE community-driven festival brought people together on Botanic Avenue in Belfast in a special car-free event on Sunday.
The Open Botanic Festival gave the public a chance to experience this diverse, busy thoroughfare in a totally different way, encouraging families to enjoy this rich, vibrant part of the city. This welcoming event included a family-friendly range of fun activities and community engagement projects celebrating all the people and communities in the area.
Briege Arthurs, Chief Executive Officer of Forward South Partnership, which organised the festival, said this was a chance to open up discussions about regeneration and greening spaces.
“We wish to foster a welcoming environment for all people. As our community grows and changes, our streets should try to meet their needs and Botanic Avenue has so much potential for that. This event is a chance for people to have a say in the future of the avenue," she said.
Forward South Partnership, through the Open Botanic Festival, is leading the discussion around changes to the streets of Belfast with fewer cars in order to give better access to pedestrians and cyclists, reduce pollution and improve health.
The festival included groups from the Holyland, Donegall Pass, Sandy Row, as well as Anaka Women’s Collective, Sustrans, The Friends of the Field, the South and East Belfast Bands Forum and Yallaa, a group that promotes Arabic culture.
There was a temporary cycle path on one side of Botanic Avenue with a range of fun activities including music, workshops, food, health and community stalls.
Six community organisations took part in a series of workshops in collaboration with the Architecture and Planning Department at Queen’s University Belfast to talk about how they would like Botanic Avenue to evolve and to design community kiosks that will showcase the culture and heritage of the area.
Oluwaseyi Oluwalana from Anaka said: “Our group was delighted to be involved with Open Botanic this year. It was wonderful to see so many happy people enjoying spending time together.”
Businesses in the area had been invited to participate in Open Botanic. One of those taking part this year was the Belfast Empire Music Hall.
Dean Miller, Empire General Manager, said: “We would like to see discussions around evolving the Avenue further in such ways, for example, we think a cycle lane would of great benefit – people who walk or cycle are surely more likely to stop at the local businesses.”
