YOU WOULDN’T CLOSE A CLUB AT 3AM

PROPAGATE 2025 

For this year’s Catalyst Arts programme we are going to the club !!!

Clubbing and dance music culture has often been a pure celebration of community, collective experience and escapism from the drawling day-to-day. So for this year’s Propagate we are going to celebrate it <3 There is a lack of opportunity for club nights and late night cultural events within Belfast and the North of Ireland. So let’s take the time to discuss this, it’s causes, solutions, let’s share ideas and, v importantly have fun !

We have two events running for the programme. A panel discussion on club spaces at Sound Advice (28th Feb) and a DIY T-shirt printing workshop at Catalyst Arts (1st March). All v welcome to attend these free events ahead of Ponyhawke party at USC on 1st March.

Panel Discussion at Sound Advice

Location: Sound Advice
Date: 28th February
Time: 7-9pm

Chats will be centered around the lack of opportunities for club nights and late night cultural events to take shape within Belfast. What are the causes of this? What are Belfast’s subcultural roots and where do they stem from? How can we collectively go forward in pushing for DIY/grassroots spaces and events within our city??

Panelists include Marion Hawkes (Sound Advice/Ponyhawke), Timmy Stewart (The Night Institute), Holly Lester (Free the Night), and Peter Gibney and Andrew Moore (Plain Sailing) with moderator Saul Duffin (Yeo Magazine) 💫

This is a free event and tickets can be registered here.

DIY T-Shirt Workshop at Catalyst Arts

Location: Catalyst Arts
Date: 1 March
Time: 4-7pm

As part of the programming, Reuben Brown will be facilitating a DIY spray-paint t-shirt workshop. Spray painting is a process rooted in sub cultural and protest movements. This workshop is inspired by the same community-driven energy that shaped club-culture in Northern Ireland.

The event is free and no booking is required - bring your own materials (t-shirt/spray paint/stencil/anything!) or use the materials provided at Catalyst to make something unique whilst embracing the DIY ethos that defines our nightlife culture.

There will be open decks at this event, and afterwards we encourage you to continue the party at Ponyhawke at Ulster Sports Club!

Propagate is a public programme of workshops and events, in the Catalyst Arts gallery, off-site and online, organised by Catalyst Arts. 
Collaboration, textile workshops, music, dance and conversation are the thematic seeds of this year’s programme. This cross-disciplinary approach will result in a unique sharing of knowledge, as the workshops explore and play with the development of Belfast’s nightlife, club culture and DIY music and cultural events, creating a platform for dissemination. The Propagate programme allows for a collective, creative exchange and cultivates new ways of working within artistic practices.

Seeds will be sown and ideas rooted…