With the 2026 4 Corners Festival just around the corner (30th Jan-8th Feb), we are pleased to share this inspiring article from Ekklesía about the festival’s unique contribution to faith-based reconciliation, dialogue and community life in Belfast. Now in its 14th year, the Festival invites people from all walks of life to step beyond divisions and to experience shared journeys of encounter, art, conversation and hope across the city under the theme “Journey” — reflecting both personal and collective paths of transformation. The original Ekklesía piece, based on a presentation given at the “Called to Hope” international conference in Castelgandolfo, illuminates how the 4 Corners Festival has become much more than an arts and events programme. It has become a living example of ecumenical friendship and cultural creativity, where “corners” are transformed into meeting places for peace, meaningful conversation and mutual learning. As we look forward to this year’s festival, which includes events exploring resilience, peacebuilding, youth voice and shared community life, this article offers valuable insights into the ethos and impact of this remarkable initiative.
Reprinted from Ekklesia* Online, July-September 2025, No 28, by Joan Patricia Back
In Belfast, a city still scarred by the “Troubles” (the Northern Irish conflict), an ecumenical festival is rewriting the narrative: no longer division, but dialogue, creativity and reconciliation. It is the 4 Corners Festival, which every year in February transforms the “corners” of the city into points of meeting and hope.
Born thirteen years ago from an idea of Father Martin Magill, a Catholic priest, and Rev. Steve Stockman, a Presbyterian minister, the festival is now coordinated by an ecumenical team including Methodist minister David Campton. “The goal,” says David, “was simple but profound: to get people out of their geographical, religious, political and cultural corners to really meet, in truth and fraternity.”
From divided city to shared city
The name of the festival recalls the four “corners” into which Belfast is historically divided: north, south, east and west. Divisions that are not only urban, but also of identity, and which have been born out of the religious and political conflicts that have marked the life of the city for decades. “They called us the city where Christians kill each other,” David recalls, “but the peace process of the 1990s and the commitment of so many courageous Christian leaders changed the face of our land. The festival wants to build on that change.”
A rich program, for all ages
The 4 Corners Festival offers dozens of events every year: concerts, exhibitions, theatrical performances, prayer meetings, debates, historical walks, sports activities and creative workshops. All this takes place in different places in the city, precisely to push the participants to “get out of their corner”.
The protagonists are mostly local, but there is no shortage of international voices: even Pope Francis sent a video message on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the festival. But, as David Campton is keen to point out: “It is not a festival of big names: it is above all an opportunity for relationships, encounters, and the discovery of the other.”
A “jumper” that unites
Among the most symbolic events is Knit and Natter – 4 Corners Together, a meeting between knitting enthusiasts from all over the city, conceived by Irene Jovaras. “It is not just a manual activity,” he says, “but a true ecumenism of the people. A network of friendship that continues throughout the year.”
Volunteers, silent protagonists
Among the many volunteers, there is also Sally Campton, David’s wife. “My birthday falls on the first of February,” she jokes, “and the only way to see my husband is to be a volunteer at the festival!” But then she adds, seriously: “In reality, being part of this initiative is a gift. There is a sense of family, where everyone is welcomed and valued.”
Towards a sustainable future
For some years now, the festival has also been committed to being carbon neutral. To offset carbon emissions, it finances the planting of trees in the hills around Belfast. “But we want to do more,” David concludes, “to plant seeds of hope in people’s hearts, in the four corners of the city… and, why not, of the world”.
An open invitation
The 4 Corners Festival is a concrete testimony of how faith, culture and collaboration can contribute to the healing of a wounded city. An experience to be lived, to be told and, perhaps, also to be imitated elsewhere.
For more information, to participate or simply to learn about this extraordinary reality, the invitation is open to everyone1. Because change really begins… around the corner.
1 https://www.4cornersfestival.com
Source: https://ekklesiaonline.org/4-corners-festival-joan-patricia-back/
*Ekklesía is a quarterly magazine that inspires, forms and supports action in ecclesial life. Attentive to the changing times, it explores a synodal vision of Church where lay people, clergy and consecrated persons journey together. Each issue centres on a thematic focus, complemented by sections on good practice, witness, the synodal pathway and dialogue, all in service of a Church united in diversity, renewed by the Gospel and open to dialogue with society.