Ireland’s largest music conference lands in Belfast tomorrow — Thursday 24 September 2026 — with daytime panels at The MAC and Oh Yeah Music Centre, then an evening of live concerts through the Cathedral Quarter.
Output Belfast is the city’s one-day industry gathering for artists, managers, labels, sync teams and anyone building a music career here. Organisers call this the biggest and most ambitious edition yet, and it is free to attend. For Belfast’s UNESCO City of Music story, that matters: the people who book the rooms, write the songs and run the tours are all in one place for a day.
Presented by Belfast City Council / Belfast City of Music and programmed by Score Draw Music, Output sits where the conference diary and the night-time economy meet — daytime toolkit, evening stages. LoveBelfast has already covered the free Cathedral Quarter showcase trail for 24 September; this piece is about the conference itself.
Where and when
What: Output Belfast — Ireland’s largest one-day music conference
When: Thursday 24 September 2026 · opening keynote from 10am
Where: The MAC and Oh Yeah Music Centre (daytime) · Cathedral Quarter venues (evening concerts)
Cost: Free — register and follow the full panel schedule at outputbelfast.com
Sessions run through the day across MAC floors (including the Hub, Lab, Factory, Upstairs and Downstairs theatres and The Works) and at Oh Yeah. Some rooms are already marked fully subscribed on the official site — check before you plan a route.
Opening keynote — industry powerhouses
The day opens with a three-hander: Tom Kiehl, Chief Executive of UK Music; Catherine Martin, Head of Policy, Ireland at the Ivors Academy (and former Irish Minister for Culture who introduced the Basic Income for the Arts pilot in 2022); and David Martin, Chief Executive of the Featured Artists Coalition.
“It is a great privilege to be invited to address the 2026 Output Belfast,” Kiehl said. “It is a fantastic event, bringing together so many perspectives from across the music industry. I look forward to listening and working with the delegates as we tackle and find ways forward on the big topics facing the sector.”
What the panels cover
Organisers list around 28 sessions — workshops, masterclasses and talks spanning producer deals, co-writing, publishing and contracts, festival pitching, sync and music supervision, independent releases, touring budgets, radio playlisting, live-sector jobs, brand partnerships and more.
Names on the boards include Orchard co-founder Scott Cohen, Northern Irish singer-songwriter Janet Devlin, Eurovision winner Dana on a PRS for Music Europop panel, BBC and Sky music-rights leads, Beatport and local festival bookers, and a UK Music workshop writing Northern Ireland’s manifesto for music ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
First for Output this year: a music and technology gear expo with Audient, Lowden guitars, and a Dolby Atmos listening room on a full 7.1.4 system.
Closing keynote — Trad Life
The Lyndon Stephens closing keynote is Trad Life — how traditional Irish songs and tunes are powering contemporary culture, from the Fleadh to screen. Speakers named include Bernadette Morris, Joshua Burnside, Úna Monaghan and Dónal O’Connor (Belfast TradFest).
After dark — Cathedral Quarter
When the panels wrap, the night moves into Cathedral Quarter live concerts and free showcases. Full artist and host detail is on our earlier piece: Output Belfast free evening showcase line-up for 24 September.
For anyone working the industry by day and chasing new acts by night, tomorrow is the date: The MAC and Oh Yeah for the toolkit, Cathedral Quarter for the gigs — and the full programme locked on outputbelfast.com.
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