Custom House Square to showcase free-styling sports

Skateboarders, BMX-ers and free-runners will be descending on Custom House Square next weekend for a free bumper concert as part of Belfast City Council’s annual Waste Fair.

The urban arts and sporting event will take place in the city’s newest performance space on Saturday, June 9 (3pm-5pm) and aims to educate young people about the problem of waste by ‘speaking their language’.

The concert will also feature a performance by Big Beat who as part of a larger ensemble, Weapons of Sound, played at a concert in Buckingham Palace last year. The group promotes recycling through its use of percussion instruments made from a range of recycled material.

For fans of free-styling sports, the event will showcase the groups involved in Belfast’s urban sports including BMX-bikes, free-runners and skateboarders to herald the development of the new facilities soon to be opening in Belfast thanks to the city council, Better Belfast, Sports Council and Belfast Urban Sports.

Chris Quinn, Belfast City Council’s Children and Young People’s Co-ordinator, said: “The aim of this event is to engage with young people and speak their language without preaching to them. The problem of waste affects everyone and we want to make the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ message relevant to young people and explain what role they have to play both now and in the future.

“This promises to be a fun event for all the family and we’ve listened to the views of young people via our Youth Forum to make sure we’ll be delivering the kind of event they want. We hope those that come along will go away feeling inspired or challenged to think about the consequences of their actions when it comes to recycling and improving our environment.”

Liam Lynch from Belfast Urban Sports (BUS) is urging people to come along and “get on the BUS”.

He said: “Our goal is not just about building the best park possible, we are totally dedicated to ensuring that urban sports gets the respect and recognition that it deserves. We want young people in the future to have the opportunity to pursue careers in this industry whether it’s a sponsored professional or one of the many supporting roles. So don’t be shy log onto www.ourbus.org then sign up and we will hopefully see you on the ‘BUS’.”

Speaking on behalf of Big Beat, Phil Spurr said: “Big Beat junk percussion is delighted to be a part of the Waste Fair and will be hammering out the recycling message on their weird and wonderful recycled instruments - including gas pipes, barrels, a shopping trolley, and even a kitchen sink.

“With hundreds of performances and workshops behind them Big Beat believe people take in the recycling message best when they are smiling, so be prepared to join in and have some fun.”

(JM/SP)