The Monthly discusses running the Imagine Belfast Festival with Festival Director Mags White-O’Kane – Part 3 – Increasing the arts component

And what would you say you might have brought to the festival?

I think there is a lot more arts content in this year’s festival and I think it would be reasonable to say that would be related to my background. Keep in mind that, as I said, 70 per cent of the festival comes from open submissions and is community based and because people knew my background I think it might have helped some of them think about making a submission. There were new people submitting and certainly there were more from the arts and culture areas.

I think that there it is often through the arts that people naturally gather together to open us discussions about difficult issues, where they challenge their own ideas and other people’s ideas as well, so there is definitely a place for that to happen in this festival.

We also have our funders, and our partners, to think about and our very strong relationship with the two main universities, Queen’s and the Ulster University where there is an academic element to some of the events they would put forward, but even there the arts have crept in.

I would say a combination of the person, me and my background in the arts, and the networks I have, our funders and supporters and what they bring to the festival, and the cultural shifts where discussions take place often through the arts, and that the arts have become a vehicle for political campaigning, have seen a shift in the festival programming.

Are there any other issues you have to manage carefully?

It’s a sign of the times that the arts are struggling, festivals are struggling, so I have to make sure that financially, the festival is sustainable. I have to consider what events need to pay for themselves, how the general finances are managed, and beyond that I have to say that we get funding from the Arts Council and Belfast City Council but we also get support from other sources such as Department of Foreign Affairs Ireland and Community Relations Fund, and our non-funders are incredibly supportive of what the festival does.

Are there any key events or themes you want to mention?

I must say the festival has 130 events so there is a lot there to inspire and enthuse people and plenty to encourage debate and discussion. There are lots of themes and areas which will generate discussion.

Censorship of the arts and artists is a key theme this year.

High-profile examples, ranging from the treatment of Kneecap to the selective editing of political advocacy at the BAFTAs and BRITs, illustrate a shifting landscape in how ‘acceptable’ content is defined – and this is definitely illustrated in some key festival events for 2026.

The question of Democracy is being looked at through the lens of Lough Neagh. That is quite an interesting approach. Democracy has always been a theme but this is an interesting way of approaching the question.

So far we have had very positive feedback about the festival programme and we are going forward with confidence that we have produced an inspiring festival.