The Orange Chronicle        

June 29, 2010
Orangefest is a celebration of culture
http://ping.fm/OVUAl

THE Shankill Road in Belfast will host a celebration of culture leading up to next months annual Twelfth celebrations.

This years Orangefest was launched at the Spectrum centre last night to the sound of the flute and the drum.

A regimental band and the Lambeg drums kicked off a packed programme of events arranged at the Shankill Road venue over the course of the next fortnight.

Following on from last years inaugural initiative, Orangefest at Spectrum, which runs until July 10, willfeature marching band concerts, recitals, workshops, slideshows and highland dancing.

The programme of dance, music and drama is designed to educate local people and tourists as well as providing a greater understanding of the Orange tradition.

Programme manager at the Spectrum centre, Bobby Foster, is looking to build on last years success when up to 2,000 people passed through the centres doors.

He said: This is a chance to celebrate our culture in many forms. This year is a slightly tighter and more condensed programme. There will be more of an emphasis on performing.

Belfast deputy lord mayor, William Humphrey, who officially opened this years event, praised the Shankill initiative.

The DUP man said: It is great to see the local community has stepped up and is working alongside Orangefest at Spectrum to promote the Twelfth as a tourist event for the city.

Increasingly it is being seen as something which is positive and should be marketed as being the largest event the city has.

Orangefest is a Belfast-based initiative, aiming at making the Twelfth of July celebrations more inclusive.

Last year, shops in Belfast city centre opened for the first time during the main parade.

The Twelfth is the citys largest event with an estimated 250,000 people taking part or attending.

Published date on the 29th of June 2010

Article taken from the The News Letter

Press Statements
Belfast Orangeman Says Institution Has Big Role To Play In Cultural Tourism
http://grandorangelodge.co.uk/press/PressReleases-2010/100628-institution_has_big_role_to_play.htm
28 June 2010


Senior Belfast Orangeman, and Deputy Lord Mayor, William Humphrey says the Orange Order has a vital role to play in cultural tourism.

Councillor Humphrey was speaking at the launch of Orangefest at the Spectrum Centre on the Shankill Road - on Monday night, June 28, at 7.15pm.

Councillor Humphrey said:

"Orangefest at the Spectrum Centre is now in its second year and is funded by the Arts Council for Northern Ireland. It is an important addition to the main Boyne celebrations in Belfast and compliments them in every way.

"The Twelfth is the city's largest event with more than 250,000 people taking part or watching.

"Tourism is the fastest growing sector of the Belfast economy and 50% of visitors are cultural tourists. It is a huge market worldwide and Orangeism is a significant part of our product.

"Under-funding for the Twelfth is an issue and greater resources must be provided to expand Orangefest and develop the product and maximise the visitor numbers.

"We hope that people will appreciate the significance of Orangeism. Diversity is an opportunity and strength. Tolerance and acceptance must be the norm in building a society in Northern Ireland at peace with itself."


Orangefest at the Spectrum runs from June 28 to July 10 and this year will concentrate on performance and musical concert events. Bready Pipe Band, Ballyclare Victoria and Ballyduff Silver will carry the headline band concerts. Risin Stour and the Ulser Scots Experience feature in cultural concerts.

Backing this up will be recitals from the UVF Regimental Band (East Belfast), the Shankill Road Defenders, the Pride of the Raven and Blue Star Accordion. There will also be drama, highland dancing and workshops on tartans and drum making.

The Maiden City Festival just gets bigger and bigger and shows what can be done with a once controversial event.  There are several websites of importance.  Discover Northern Ireland  & the Derry Visitor sites promote the event as a `flagship celebration of diversity in Northern Ireland`. The News Letter carries an informative article today by William Allen looks at the festival.
The Official Festival website with full itinerary is at:
http://www.maidencityfestival.com

With the accompanying tourist oriented Siege Heroes Trail website at:-
http://www.siegeheroestrail.com

Along with the connected Apprentice Boys of Derry website at:
http://www2.apprenticeboys.co.uk

They also have all the usual social media sites on the go:-
http://www.youtube.com/user/MaidenCityFestival
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maiden-City-Festival/109602072347
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maidencityfestival



Maiden City Festival is ‘a symbol of hope’
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Maiden-City-Festival-is-39a.6287677.jp
Published Date: 12 May 2010 By William Allen

THE Maiden City Festival in Londonderry seems to get better every year and, while its success in tackling misperceptions about the Apprentice Boys of Derry may be difficult to quantify, it is nevertheless without question. There is a belief that the lack of major confrontation and organised protests during Apprentice Boys parades these days is not just due to a process of negotiations under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce, but to the proactive steps taken by the Loyal Order to promote itself and its history.

Current Assembly Speaker, William Hay is one of those who has played a part in securing successive agreements on parades in Londonderry and he is in no doubt that the Maiden City Festival has had an impact.
“It’s been a hugely successful initiative, and one that deserves more funding to ensure it keeps growing, funding that will allow the organisers to plan further ahead.

“What the Maiden City Festival has done is help educate the wider community on the culture and history of the Apprentice Boys; it’s led to a better understanding of what the organisation is about. It’s a symbol of hope in this city in terms of parading,” said the Foyle MLA, who is himself a prominent member of the Apprentice Boys.

The Maiden City Festival is described on its website as “a showcase for Protestant culture of tolerance and openness, and for the heritage that is entrusted to the Apprentice Boys of Derry. The Maiden City Festival is the way in which the Protestant community of Londonderry, a minority community, is able to make a contribution to the life of the City and to the diversity of cultural expression”.

That contribution has so far been considerable, and what makes it even more impressive is that it has worked so well despite limited funding.

While funding has sometimes been an issue, with the festival having to rely on obtaining funds from one year to the next, it’s safe to say that it delivers terrific value and has grown considerably since it was first mooted as a way of correcting misperceptions that Protestant culture was all about parading. William Hay is not the only person to believe that it’s been a significant success story, as more and more local organisations see a dividend from participation.

Highlights have included Bluegrass on the Walls, and a tribute to William Love, performed by the Black Skull Corps of Fife and Drums. And one of the other initiatives that has proved popular – and is therefore being expanded – is Culture Bite, a diverse range of lunchtime performances in cafés and lunch spots; another aspect deemed worthy of expansion is the Siege Story, which offers a way of more fully exploiting the historic backdrop of the city’s walls.

One of the organisers, David Hoey said: “We are looking to expand the diversity section in terms of growing our Culture Bite cafe/ lunch programme.

And with the Siege Story we are hoping to provide short performances around the walls, enhancing the attractiveness of the walls as a tourist feature.”

He said the thinking behind the festival was to show how much Protestant culture could contribute to civic life and, despite changes in funding, it was working.

Mr Hoey said: “When we started it was the height of the parades issue and one of the important things we believed was that we needed to get away from the notion that Protestant culture was only parading. We wanted to show the Protestant community had something very positive to contribute to civic life.

Commemorations are an important part of the week but the festival itself is part of the cultural footprint of Londonderry.

“We had around £10,000 from the Community Relations Council the first year and around that from the city council, and funding has gone up and down, but we have a festival that’s three or four times bigger.
“We also have learned to extract cultural value from the resources that are already there. Also, in 1998 we were on our own, but now there is much more collaboration and we are hoping to work on building on that in future years. We always wanted it to be the foundation of something we could grow.”

Growth is measurable – while sections are expanding, the number of visitors going to the Memorial Hall, with its exceptional museum, grew considerably last year.

Hopes are high of even greater success this year, as the Maiden City Festival organisers have embraced modern media, with a website, a Youtube channel, a weblog, and a presence on Facebook and Flickr.

While the main events take place over a one-week period in August, work goes on in the background pretty much all year round, not least recently in terms of making the most of high tech developments and the social networking opportunities afforded by the internet.

“We have developed a substantial web presence and have launched a podcast,” added Mr Hoey.

“It’s a matter of progression. If you include the Apprentice Boys of Derry, our web presence is getting 120,000 visits a year. Our Youtube site has had 30,000 views in the past year. We have 25,000 visitors engaging during the festival week but the number has been expanding. This has been our first big year of a web presence, and we will be tracking the impact of that,” explained Mr Hoey.

The hopes are that people will now know much more about the history of the Apprentice Boys or the Maiden City Festival and will see that Londonderry is worth visiting in August, with the promise of excitement, entertainment and spectacle over that week in August, leading up to August 14 when the Relief of Derry parade gets under way.

Asked whether the festival had achieved everything hoped of it when it was first envisaged, Mr Hoey said its contribution has been “significant”.
He added: “People are more prepared to take a look.

I think demonisation has gone, and we are moving into better understanding.”

2013 has become an important date in Londonderry, due to the bid to become UK City of Culture and the Maiden City Festival is developing ambitious plans, that can be more fully explored once this year’s event has passed. And those plans will hopefully be developed whether or not Londonderry wins the UK title.

Mr Hoey concluded: “We have 2013 in our sights…we have an exciting project on our hands for 2013. We are always trying to plan ahead and change the shape of things – a festival needs to be constantly changing. We are always looking at what offers potential, and then making it reality.”

The Orders Dr David Hume, will be discussing Unionism and Britishness at Huddersfield University.  Orange Standard article follows underneath.

University of Huddersfield
Academy for the Study of Britishness
New Perspectives on Britishness
http://www2.hud.ac.uk/asb/new_perspectives_on_britishness.php

Thursday March 4 2010, 5.30pm @ University of Huddersfield, George Buckley lecture theatre.

Director of Services at the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, David Hume, will be discussing Unionism and Britishness. All are welcome to attend. Contact j.matthews@hud.ac.uk to book a free place. Refreshments served from 5pm.

The series continues to be an exciting programme of open lectures about what 'Britishness' means today to different people and in different contexts. Previous speakers include Romani journalist Jake Bowers, Chris Harvie MSP, journalist and author of The Gay Divorcee, Paul Burston, Adam Price, Plaid Cymru MP and writer Bernardine Evaristo. David Hume is followed in 2010, by:

* Art, design and architecture expert, Alan Powers (11 March)
* Tariq Ramadan, expert on Muslims in the West and Islamic revival in the Muslim world (25 May).

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