Beautiful Belfast: From the perspective of a blowin!

My first visit to Belfast was in March 2026. It was cold, but not as cold as Canada and I enjoyed being able to roll the dice of whether to wear a jacket or not. My first impression, I will admit, was that everything was quite dreary. But not dreary in the typical, it-rains-everyday-because-it’s-Ireland kind of way. More in the sense that it was cold, dark, cloudy and the overall feel was less energetic or vibrant than I had hoped. 

But then again, jet lag. And March. Canada is hardly the picture of vibrancy in the month of March.

One of the many street murals in city centre Belfast

We arrived In Belfast for the second time at the end of June 2026. Much better. The days are long, the skies are bright and sunny. The weather, dare I say, was even warm. Locals kept telling us, ‘Don’t get used to these temperatures, it’s not normally this warm!’. But alas, global warming. 

We spent our first 6 weeks living in temporary accommodations at The Wilton House in the City Centre. Note: they do not call it ‘downtown’ like we do in North America, it is ‘city centre’. 

This allowed us to spend time really getting to know the city, from parks and streets to coffee shops and restaurants. 

Here are my quick Belfast Is Beautiful thoughts from the perspective of a ‘blowin’!

History

The history is intense and it is recent. I will do a separate post on the nuances that I’ve learned, but suffice it to say that their history colours every aspect of the city. There are areas that are predominantly Protestant or British and there are areas that are predominantly Catholic or Irish. You can sometimes tell which area you’re in by the murals and flags. 

But their history extends beyond this- the Titanic was built in Belfast and Belfast was also badly damaged in WWII.

Energy 

I would label the energy of the city as punk rock meets British colonialism. The kids and I were surprised how many adults have colourful hair. Pink, blue, green, orange. But then I recalled that Belfast is very much known for its music scene and I suspect some of that individualization is as a result. 

In the city centre, there is also very much a drinking culture. Having lived here for 3 months now and moved to the suburbs, I don’t believe it necessarily extends outwards but in the city centre, pubs are often overflowing at all times of the day. We noticed a rather abrupt shift in the city centre when 6pm hit. Suddenly the level of intoxication became noticeably apparent. The shops closed down and the drunks came out. 

The city is very arty. There are always troubadours playing in the city centre. The MAC is a fantastic establishment for arts, music and theatre. My kids did a summer art camp there and we went to a concert (Kate Nash!). If you walk around the city, you will see numerous murals, not just the political ones but beautiful art work. They embrace and appreciate art.

People

It would be rather redundant of me to speak about the friendliness of the people. However, what we found is it’s perhaps not so much that everyone is nice, it’s that people are approachable and always keen to have a conversation. I engaged a pair of young 20-somethings at a liquor store in a conversation about the differences between our two countries and they were keen to chat. At the zoo, we were waiting on some food and the man behind the counter chatted away to us. I was at the rugby pitch just the other night and a complete stranger came up to me and chatted with me about which club I was with and if I would be interested in joining a lady’s touch league. 

None of this may strike you as odd but in Canada- or maybe I should say, in Toronto- people are not interested in stopping for a chat. Particularly with a stranger. People are busy and important and always in a rush. Here, they are not in a rush. Even how they drive. This may sound shocking, but the people drive the speed limit. I was surprised too. In Toronto, if you’re going 20 over the speed limit, you’re going too slow. Not here. People will often drive 5-10 mph under the posted speed limit.

There are many things to appreciate about a new country and while not everything will always be beautiful, perhaps it’s our perspective to find the rainbows in the rain that allows us to enjoy it. And trust me, there are many rainbows here.

Belfast is Beautiful is a regular series on the known and the less-known aspects of Belfast, from the perspective of a blowin.