The Irish News: Ireland's biggest whiskey festival gets under way in Belfast

Now in its seventh year, Belfast Whiskey Week brings together more than 40 brands and distilleries across nine days, with over 100 events. The 2025 edition spans the city's most established whiskey venues — the Duke of York, the John Hewitt, the Deer's Head — alongside newer or less expected spaces like St Comgall's, the former school that has been brought back to life through a £7 million award-winning restoration project.

The Irish News piece highlights how the festival has come to reflect Belfast's wider story of urban regeneration: "The fusion of those themes is very much at the heart of the seventh Belfast Whiskey Week." St Comgall's hosts the festival's Whiskey Expo on 25 July — the central one-day showcase where festival-goers meet more than 40 distilleries and brands under one roof.

The 2025 programme covers a deliberately wide range — whiskey tastings, cocktail events, comedy gigs, live music, theatrical experiences, distillery tours, sensory and fine dining experiences, exclusive collaborations with Belfast bars and restaurants, heritage walking tours and food pairing sessions.

The festival closes on Saturday 26 July with the Irish Whiskey Industry Awards at the Ulster Reform Club — increasingly recognised as one of the two most important nights in the Irish whiskey industry calendar.

Coverage from The Irish News during festival week has become an annual fixture, and their photography from the 2024 Expo at St Comgall's helped establish the venue's profile ahead of its 2025 starring role.

Read the full feature: The Irish News — Ireland's biggest whiskey festival gets under way in Belfast