Dalia is an Iraqi-British journalist, editor, host and producer based in London. She is mostly interested in writing and commissioning stories on emerging creativity from the SWANA region and diaspora, migrant narratives, and reporting on community-led stories from the margins.

 Dalia Al-Dujaili

Now in its eighth year, the Audio Visual Arts festival has become the pride and joy of Belfast. We picked the brains of the Irish acts, punters, organisers and local legends to tell us what makes the city so ripe for the techno and electro scene and why they’re looking forward to the bounties of city-wide regeneration.

As the sun uncharacteristically shines down on the industrial docks of Northern Ireland’s capital, it quickly becomes apparent that AVA is a family affair, both in a literal and figurative sense. After having been given a lift to the docks by Willis, Matt McBriar’s dad – one half of Bicep – cool dads reveal themselves to be a prominent feature of the weekend. “Parents are such good craic”, echoes Boiler Room host Evan Curistan into the mic, before DJ and producer 

and swings it over his head during Mark’s set.

Set across their new location at the Titanic Slipways, this year’s AVA saw over 16,000 attendees, with a majority of local Irish acts like one of Dublin’s biggest, Gemma Dunleavy, Belfast-born Bicep, and Irish-Spanish rapper Biig Piig, as well as British names like Mura Masa and Jon Hopkins. It was clear that repping the quickly-expanding Irish scene was of huge importance to the team behind the festival. For 2022, BBC Radio Ulster hosted The Baltic stage where Irish legends and emerging artists got the chance to play side by side – like Extended Play and The Night Institute founder Jordan – aiming to spotlight a scene which is desperately promising but gets little exposure.

Self-taught sound technician and DJ OPTMST tells me, “It’s like one big family!”, before his set at the Grasses stage this year. In a city with a population of about 340,000, it’s easy to see how the music scene here has become a tight-knit family. OPTMST returned to what he describes as the “ever growing, small scene of Belfast” back in 2015, founding 

 – named after the Irish slang aye – “The relationships I ended up making through music became my core community. That's why I wouldn't leave in a rush, you can’t beat having really close relationships…It’s become a second family.”

As a city which has seen waves of traumatic violence from the “Summer of ‘69” through to today where Loyalists and Republicans still occasionally clash, intergenerational trauma trickles through the city’s streets. Sprawled out on the grass under the sun, Hannah, co-founder of youth culture magazine 

(the word for the “colloquial battle cry” of Irish Youth, as told by co-founder Saul) tells me, “everybody is suffering from intergenerational trauma, but our generation is pushing the arts and culture scene”, she continues, 

“Northern Ireland is always left behind. When it comes to the arts, we still have a long way to go. There’s so much talent here and it’s so important to represent our generation. That’s why AVA is so big.”

Over the course of AVA, we chat with Joe, a Belfast local who says “Protestants and Catholics are being united”, echoing Andrew Mure from Plain Sailing “The North and South are coming together.” Glasgow born DJ and BBC Radio 1 producer Euan McVicar echoed Joe’s thoughts, “when you come here, you understand the tensions, but music is an escape.” The city is quite literally painted in politics; huge murals cover the sides of buildings showing martyrs who were previously depicted to deter the glorification of violence among inner-city youth. Driving down the Shankhill Road is a deeply sobering experience, our cab driver repeated the phrase “...he was shot by Loyalists” at the turning of every corner. But entering through the gates of the festival, the violence of the past that still hangs over the city somehow lifts, drowned out by heaving techno and heady vibrations.

Saul of Yeo Magazine tells us, “We’re having a Renaissance at the minute. The generation before us went through the war. That’s why the punk scene was so big.” After the Troubles’ notorious Punk era which produced Stiff Little Fingers and Rudi, and inspired the lyrics of The Clash and the Sex Pistols, the Northern Irish are now self-proclaimed techno-heads for much the same reasons – a head-banging escape from sectarian violence. With exports like Bicep, Or:la and Calibre, the techno and electro scene has a lot to thank Northern Ireland for; but despite the overflowing talent, Belfast has still experienced the great brain drain.

Timmy Stewart, resident DJ at Belfast’s The Night Institute, explains that people started going to university in other cities and Belfast became sleepy, “but now something has happened, and AVA has been pivotal to that.” Timmy is a bit of a legend round these parts, 28 years ago he started his career under Acid House great David Holmes by bombarding him (Timmy’s words) with mixtapes, and has since mentored Bicep and more recently discovered Dart. He tells me, “Bicep would come to Shine (an underground Belfast techno club) and hassle me for track IDs… they had a little folder called ‘Tracks That Timmy Would Play’”. Timmy “T-Bone” Stewart is at the helm of Belfast’s new sonic generation alongside AVA founder Sarah McBriar, hosting his own party in Belfast’s The Night Institute as well as his mentoring initiative Extended Play alongside club founder Jordan, which is aimed at “finding out who the new people are across Ireland.”


After working as a producer at Glastonbury, AVA founder Sarah McBriar was keen to challenge her hometown’s talent drain. Having built a platform for emerging talent, she tells me that now, “everyone comes back [to Belfast] for a party”, and events like this are vital in keeping the heart of the scene beating, especially in a place where it’s harder to push-up and promote local artists. We talk about her favourite spot in and around the city, The Sunflower being one of them; it’s one of the only pubs that kept a security cage around its door, which was erected after a shooting in 1988 resulting in three dead.

 is on the tip of everyone's tongue, from organisers to acts and punters. It’s probably this democratic nature of the sports club that has allowed it to amass this legion of fans. I’m told repeatedly that it’s thee spot in the city. It’s a classic old venue adorned with the typical pool tables and that amazing, nostalgic pub-dance-flooring downstairs. Ulster is where all the new DJs in Belfast are playing and it’s often packed with locals spilling out the door. Banana Block is another buzzy spot recommended by punters, home to the official AVA afterparties – a newly renovated space in East Belfast with an industrial history, housing Marion Hawkes’s Sound Advice record store.

Avoiding politics is tough in Northern Ireland, but it’s not as sticky and hostile as some might expect. DJ and label owner Holly Lester has always been politically minded, an interest which led her to found her label Duality Trax. Citing her father who was “a raver” (told you, cool dads everywhere) as an influence in becoming a DJ, Holly is one of the leading figures in lobbying for a regenerative nightlife industry in Belfast. “We want the government to understand the value of this scene. It shone so much during The Troubles and music has brought two sides together. That’s why the music scene needs to be protected and it needs funding.” Her initiative 

 tackles what she refers to as “some of the most aggressive licensing” and lobbies to change the infrastructure and keep the efforts of mentors like Timmy legitimate as well as support platforms like those built by Sarah. “It’s the best it’s ever been,” Holly tells me about music in Belfast, which is why AVA is “really exciting”, she continues, “I used to feel trapped and confined, but now people are mixing sounds”.

In a city known for its troubles, AVA is part of a movement committed to resetting the dominant narrative in favour of unity, not division – making the case for Belfast as a must-visit destination for music and culture.

United Kingdom

Belfast

In a City Known For Its Troubles, AVA Festival Is All About Unity

Move over Berlin, techno has found new breeding ground. We catch up with Marion Hawkes – record head, Sound Advice founder and head of queer night Ponyhawke – to chat about what makes Belfast one of the most exciting cultural scenes in Europe.

DJ, vinyl enthusiast and “record pusher” 

 bought her first record when she was 16 “after saving pocket money, buying bog standard Sound Lab decks and a handful of records from Dr Roberts (UR, Jeff Mills & some UK house labels),” she tells us. Being a shy kid, her addiction to records gave her an outlet, and her dedication seems to have paid off as Marion is now one of the most well-respected names in Belfast’s nightlife and creative scene.

Belfast is known for its underground music movements, from the infamous punk era during the troubles and the acid house raves of the 90s spearheaded by David Holmes, to today’s techno/electro moment. Admittedly, the relatively slim demand for genres like grime, hip hop and drum and bass leaves room for more growth and development. The small and constantly growing nature of the city's nightlife landscape is exactly what makes it such fertile ground for emerging talent. “There's a heap of talent coming through,” Marion tells me, “and it's looking really healthy for the future.”

Many of these emerging artists flock to the newly renovated Banana Block – where Marion’s record store Sound Advice is housed – to play, punt discs and shuffle feet. “Marion is the right person to run that store,” local legend Timmy “T-bone” Stewart tells us during 

. Marion, who stands at the centre of Belfast’s electronic scene, has earnt herself this reputation due to the time she’s dedicated to, and experiences she’s had, building musical relationships with Northern Ireland’s most innovative and legendary names.

East Belfast, like many new cultural spots in the port city, “is steeped in industrial history, with its rope works, mills and shipyard (famous for the Titanic),” Marion explains. “My good friend Claire was working on this project called Banana Block, tucked behind Portview Trade Centre, which used to be an old spinning mill, and approached me.” Excited by what was happening in and around Portview, Marion saw the creative potential. Despite this growth in East Belfast, Northern Irish DJs like 

 are still lobbying for licensing changes to allow for more empty buildings and abandoned warehouses to be given planning permissions.

Northern Ireland only recently legalised gay marriage, Marion, the queer party’s co-founder tells us, “The Queer landscape has changed so much in the six years since we started Ponyhawke… There has been progress and small wins but we've still a long way to go with battles still to be fought for trans rights and equality.” Ponyhawke, a queer party taking place at Ulster Sports Club on weekends, started “as a reaction to not having a space to listen to underground music in a non-judgmental and inclusive environment,” says Marion.

Given Marion’s reputation in the city, we can rely on her to give some sound advice (had to be done) on the best spots in Belfast. She tells us, “Ulster Sports Club is the spot of the moment with the best local and international DJs every weekend,” she also counts club nights like Plain Sailing, Twitch, Block, Korova, Crilli and – of course – Ponyhawke among her top recommendations. For more experimental and balearic sessions, head to Bullit, “JC is a master curator of sounds.” Marion continues, “We've got The Hack club for monthly residents, The Night Institute and the occasional Black Bones, and Banana Block for larger scale events like David Holmes' God's Waiting Room and Block Parties.”

The city is painted in its political history, huge murals cover almost every brick wall which would otherwise be bare. “We have class street art and walking tours in and around the city centre,” echoes Marion. She also recommends shopping at Never Never (also a favourite of local DJ OPTMST), American Madness, The Bureau and Octopuss Garden. If it’s munch you’re hungry for after traipsing around the town’s street art and shops, Marion’s top eats are Yugo, Jumon, Freight and Flout Pizza.

Being Belfast, Marion tells us “you’re spoiled for choice” when it comes to bars, listing some of her favourites – American Bar, Duke Of York, and USC – before noting the iconic Sunflower, a local favourite and watering hole of 

, AVA founder. There’s plenty of free stuff to do if you’re on a budget, jump on Belfast Bikes and take a trip around the docs at sunset, or head to the Botanic Gardens for good people watching. Drink pints in historic pubs, dance in disused industrial docks, and find free art at every cobbled corner – if it’s an unpretentious party you’re after, you’ll find your clan alongside Marion in Belfast.