Belfast’s weekend diary is stacked again — Friday Night Lights at Affidea, comedy and classical on the same riverbank, Judy still packing the Opera House, and the Teal Army back under the O2 roof on Saturday. Here’s what to aim for 25–27 September, with the live board on our What’s On hub and the full month still mapped in the September Belfast events guide.
If you’re still out on Thursday, Output Belfast is the music-industry day at The MAC and Oh Yeah, with a free Cathedral Quarter showcase trail after dark — useful, but it’s Thursday, not the weekend lead.
Friday night
Ulster v Edinburgh opens the BKT URC at Affidea Stadium — kick-off 19:45, live on Premier Sports. Fan Zone and bars from 17:45; be in your seat by 19:30. Full matchday timeline, 9 Counties and tickets are on the LoveBelfast guide.
Same evening, Ulster Orchestra opens its 60th-anniversary season with Beethoven 200 — Ode to Joy at Ulster Hall (19:45, pre-concert talk 19:00) — already flagged in our September events guide. Youth choirs from across NI join the Choral Symphony; tickets via Waterfront / Ulster Hall.
Also Friday: John Garrity & Co (The Belfast Busker) in Waterfront Studio — songs and stories in a smaller room; tickets via waterfront.co.uk. And Action Cancer’s Paint the Town Pink launch fills Stormont Great Hall with Comber Silver Band and Fortwilliam Musical Society (19:30–22:30) — the October pink campaign’s send-off.
Football fans: Georgia v Northern Ireland is away in Tbilisi on Friday — first of the four-game window, not a Windsor night. Save the home noise for Monday.
Stage
Judy – End of the Rainbow runs through Saturday 26 September at the Grand Opera House — Anna-Jane Casey as Judy Garland in the NI premiere. Matinees and evenings depending on the day; tickets via the GOH. Check the Opera House calendar too for studio/comedy listings the same nights (for example Lata Sharma’s Sausage Sodas & Onion Bhajis) rather than trusting a second-hand bill.
Comedy — Cat Laughs
The Cat Laughs Comedy Festival lands at Waterfront Hall on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 September (evening shows; Friday listed 20:00 on the venue page). Belfast bills mix local and visiting names — Colin Murphy, Paddy Raff, Diona Doherty, Serena Terry and more on Friday; Colin Geddis, Emer Maguire, Susie McCabe and more on Saturday. Confirm the full line-up and book via Waterfront / Ticketmaster rather than a pasted price list.
Sport — Saturday ice
After last weekend’s home double, the Belfast Giants host Fife Flyers again at The O2 Belfast on Saturday 26 September, 19:00 — the return flagged after the 6–0 Sunday shutout. Face-offs can move; tickets and final times via the club / Ticketmaster.
Friday’s Ulster night is the rugby anchor. Irish Premiership travellers may also have Linfield on the road at Coleraine the same evening — confirm KO on NIFL / the club before you set off.
Daytime fillers
Between ticketed nights, keep the free things to do in Belfast guide open — Ulster Museum floors, Botanic, Ormeau, Stormont grounds, and St George’s Market Fri–Sun as usual. Parks flip to earlier closes from late September; soft-check the morning you go.
Looking ahead
Northern Ireland v Hungary is at Windsor Park on Monday 28 September, 19:45 — the home fixture in Michael O’Neill’s four games in 11 days. Ticket channels were already tight when we last checked; use the Irish FA routes, not screenshots.
From Tuesday 29 September the Grand Opera House flips to The Addams Family (through early October). On Sunday 11 October, Cancer Focus NI’s Pink Run returns to the Titanic Slipways. Ulster’s next Affidea home after Edinburgh is Munster on Saturday 10 October — detail on the Edinburgh match guide.
At a glance
- Thu 24 (still on): Output Belfast — MAC / Oh Yeah by day, free Cathedral Quarter showcases by night
- Fri 25: Ulster v Edinburgh (Affidea, 19:45) · Ode to Joy (Ulster Hall, 19:45) · Cat Laughs (Waterfront) · John Garrity (Studio) · Paint the Town Pink (Stormont) · NI away to Georgia (Tbilisi)
- Sat 26: Cat Laughs night 2 · Giants v Fife Flyers (O2, 19:00) · End of the Rainbow final day (GOH)
- Sun 27: Markets, parks, free fillers — quieter ticketed lead; recharge for Monday football
- Mon 28: NI v Hungary (Windsor, 19:45)
Pick two anchors, leave room for a market breakfast, and re-check the venue before you travel. Love Belfast — what’s on, verified, Belfast-first.
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