A SOUTH Belfast festival is to go ahead this summer despite concerns over the nature of the event.
Earlier this month a request by the Finaghy Festival to hold an event at Wedderburn Park in August was held up after SDLP Balmoral councillor Donal Lyons successfully proposed a review of whether Belfast City Council should permit it.
Councillor Lyons raised concerns over the playing of "blood and thunder" loyalist band music into the evening during previous festivals.
At the latest meeting of the Council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, members granted permission for the festival after heated exchanges between the SDLP and DUP.
Councillor Lyons said he had submitted videos with music being played by traditional marching bands until “late hours” and causing “significant amounts of disruption”.
“In the first year in 2021 it was to mark the Northern Ireland Centenary, in the second year the advertising material in the community was for the Queen’s birthday, and the dates moved to facilitate that particular anniversary," he said.
“The difficulty is that how it is being perceived in and around the Finaghy area is very different from how it is being described here.
"I don’t necessarily think how it is perceived in Finaghy is that problematic, and when people approach me and ask me what this event is I say it is what it says on the tin, an event for the Queen’s birthday or the centenary."
DUP councillor Sarah Bunting hit back at Councillor Lyons.
"The festival has been really well attended by people from across the community," she said.
“I don’t know where the bands playing to late hours comes from.
“The insinuations from Councillor Lyons that this group is potentially sectarian or racist seems to have fed into a decision by an external funder to now not fund the event.
“Saying there is a track record of noise and antisocial behaviour complaints – when nobody else seems to have got these except one councillor in the area.
“It has been raised that there might be a little bit of unionist culture on show. It is absolutely very multicultural, but that also has to include unionist culture. There are an awful lot of events where we are told we have to water down unionist culture for the sake of other cultures.
“I certainly never heard Councillor Lyons complain whenever there have been complaints that come from Finaghy about the noise that follows the Féile, and the chanting that is brought up almost yearly from that festival.”
The Council says the festival this year in August will involve family entertainment during the day and live music at night. Other activity includes a history exhibition and walk, a seniors tea dance and a food tasting session.
