This year’s Festival of Fools kicks off with an international collaboration between artists from Sardinia, Denmark and Belfast. The opening ceremony, Voyages, looks at the issue of identity and place in the face of a world of relocation, dislocation and integration. As well as that it is a rip roaring show with aerial dance, acrobatics, music and spectacular surprises. In the days that follow , we bring you acts from four continents. The quality of artists is outstanding and we’re sure you’ll agree that, wherever you’re from, funny is funny and class is class. So forget about travelling the world this year. Just take a bus into town and let the world come to you!

Over the course of five days, you could see m ore than one hundred performances as part of the Festival of Fools. Unlike nearly all other festivals, we don’t se ll you tickets. If we di d, it would cost you at least five pounds to see just one show! Although we don’t sell tickets, we do need your money. Every penny you contr ibute goes towards the financing of next yea r’s Festival of Fools. We know you like the festival and enjoy what we put on, and we ask that you show your appreciation by putting something in the hat at the end of a show.

Next year, we wil l be losing two of our funders, so we need to find a way to finance the Festival. If every person who sees a show were to give £2.50, we will be able to put the Festival on again. If half the pe ople give £5, we will be secure for next year. We a re not asking for a contribution for each show you see, but just for the Festival.

Also, if you see a street performer at other times in the year, please put money into the hat, because they won’t be getting paid by a Festival.

Remember, if Belfast gets a reputation for generous audiences, you could see high quality street theatre all year round.

Last year saw the opening of Custom House Square – a new public space for Belfast. Occupied for much of the time by Belfast’s trendy skateboar d set, the Festival of Fools aims to bring a different kind of life to the Square with the Big Finish at 6pm each evening of the Festival (see The Big Finish) Following on from the Festival, Sundays from May through to the end of August offer the opportunity to enjoy free street theatre at 2pm and 4pm every Sunday. For full details log on to www.belfastcircus.org/events

We hope that you will be around for the duration of the Festival and so that means you’ll be needing to keep yourselves fed and watered. Luckily, the Festival knows of a good number of hostelries and restaurants in the area. If you wander into the John Hewitt on Donegall Street, the Potthouse on Waring Street, Nick’s Warehouse or the Hill Street Brasserie on Hill Street, Printers in Commercial Court, McHughs on Custom House Square, the Deer’s Head on Little Garfield Street, or the Fountain Bar on Fountain Street, we know that they will look after you with good food and good service. We know that, because they look after all our artists during the Festival with top notch grub.

This year, we have a new side to the Festival. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, we invite you to get that bit extra out of the Festival in Custom House Square – Belfast’s newest public space.

At six o’clock on Saturday and Monday, and five o’clock on the Sunday of the Festival of Fools, we bring you something special – one off large scale performances which will not appear anywhere else in the Festival. These special performances are all worth leaving the house for alone. So, if you’ve been at the Festival all day, follow it on to the end. If you have been too busy during the day, make a point of seeing these shows. You won’t regret it.

Follow the Festival from the City Centre, a few hundred yards down the road to Cotton Court on Friday, Saturday and Monday for a five o’clock show with the option of a relaxing tipple and snack at the Potthouse Bar as you watch the shows.

In 2005, Belfast City Council and Cork City Council got their heads together and came up with the idea of a cultural exchange between the two Cities to celebrate each other’s vibrant arts scenes over the next two years.

Amongst the cultural of fering sent by Belfast in 2005 were artists and companies featured in the first Festival of Fools. Around a dozen artists headed south and put on some top quality performances for the people of Cork. The visit proved very popular with audiences who were excited by what they saw and artists who were delighted with the reception they received.

This year, it is Belfast’s turn to play host. The Cork City St Patrick’s Festival is sending up artists involved in their event to take part in the 2006 Festival of Fools. We trust that the good people of Belfast will make them truly welcome in this great city. We have some fantastic of ferings from Cork – Mr Cro, the Amani Acrobats, the Invisible Man, the Superior Sedan Service and Avanti Display. Have fun when you watch them and give a little thanks to Cork City Council and Belfast City Council for their imagination in making this possible.

For more information about events this year log on to www.belfastcity.gov.uk/ celebratebelfast2006

This year sees the 100th anniversary of the opening of Belfast’s City Hall. Many events are being supported to mark this event and the Festival of Fools is just one of them. So if you are the kind of person who needs an excuse to celebrate, you’ve got one. It’ s only going to happen every 100 years, so go crazy for the Festival and give thanks to Belfast City Council for recognising excellence when they see it.
For more information about events this year log on to www.belfastcity.gov.uk/celebratebelfast2006