Guided walking tour of Belfast's ancient Friar's Bush cemetery, with prose and verse by Irish and English writers, part of the Belfast International Arts Festival.
Deathless Verse is a poetic tour of Friar's Bush Graveyard on Saturday 24 October, led by the NI Tourist Guide Association as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival. The walk takes you through Friar's Bush, Belfast's oldest cemetery, which actually pre-dates the city itself. Its story is told through prose and verse by a number of Irish and English writers dwelling on life, death, burial and remembrance, much of it written by people buried there or composed in their honour.
Three very different voices deliver the material, and the experience is described as emotional and thought-provoking, taking in the bleak, the despairing, the reflective, the uplifting and even the amusing. It's a slow walk through the grounds, with the readings spaced out along the way rather than delivered in one go.
The tour is part of the 64th Belfast International Arts Festival, which runs from 14 October to 8 November 2026 and brings more than 200 events across 30 venues. This year's programme introduces a new Immersive Arts strand alongside theatre, dance, music, visual arts and literature, so there's plenty more to see across the city if you're in the mood for it.
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There are two timings to choose from on the day: 11am and 2pm, and each tour lasts about two hours. The meeting point is Friar's Bush Graveyard, and tickets are £14.
