In 2021 in preparation for the Belfast Region City Deal(link opens in new window) bid, over 50 stakeholder organisations were engaged around the concept at over 160 meetings and presentations. The framework is designed to be flexible, helping to gather, sort and celebrate a wealth of Belfast stories without constraining them. Stories may fit under more than one theme. If stories do not fit under a particular subtheme, a new one can be created. Funded by the Belfast Region CityDeal(link opens in new window) and Belfast City Council, Belfast Stories will open at the former Bank of Ireland buildings, 92 Royal Avenue (where North Street and Royal Avenue meet) by 2028. To help you share your views and ideas, we have come up with some questions we would like you to answer.

The film’s main events take place just as Branagh remembers them. “When the crowd came down our street that first time,” Branagh tells me, “it was a frenzy. It was sound, chaos, noise, jagged, surprising, bumpy, inelegant. Everything about violence was chaotic and anarchic.” Cultural and societal shifts: (over decades) reflecting on regional / global shifts that have changed the city Is home a place or a feeling?: (feeling of home whether it is a physical space or strong emotional connection) Belfast Stories screen centre will house a state-of-the-art five-screen cinema (including an outdoor screen), offering, for example, premieres and new releases from around the world, film festivals and special events. Historically, people with dependants have been more likely to engage with culture, which may reflect the volume and variety of programming aimed at children and families. However, this gap appears to be closing: in 2020/21, DfC reported that 89 per cent of people with dependants engaged in culture compared to 85 per cent of people without dependants (the difference is not statistically significant).Belfast City Council has developed a Framework for gathering stories in consultation with Lord Cultural Resources and over 50 stakeholders from Belfast. in autumn 2023 when a further equality screening will be carried out in advance of a public consultation on the concept design Sights and sounds: (capturing what we see and hear such as church bells, flowing rivers, ship horns etc) There are three main experiences within or parts to the visitor attraction: stories, screen and social. Stories

We cannot make this happen without engaging the organisations that work in the city and the people who call it home. Changing landscapes: (how landscapes changed over times and through specific historic periods, also changes due to climate) There are seven themes, each with between 11 to 16 subthemes. I am Belfast and I am… Home: A sense of belonging and connection Thrive’s 2016/17 audience baseline found that older people are more likely to watch a cultural film (arthouse, documentary or foreign language), participate in museums and heritage activity, attend literature events and use public archives than other ages. Places of significance: places that are being remembered, perceived and related to, and how this changes over time (ever changing nature of places)

Belfast Stories is the life and timesof a legendary city, told exclusively by the people who call it home. The term ‘visitor attraction’ describes its intention, but hardly does it justice, because this is an opportunity for everyone connected with this vibrant, brilliant and complicated place to have their story recorded and recounted. It’s a celebration of untold tales and unsung heroes. It’s a new angle on the familiar, a different perspective on what we thought we already knew. How to use this document