Belfast Hidden Tours Walking Whiskey Tour | Belfast Whiskey Week 2023

Name: Belfast Whiskey Week 2026
Start: 2026-07-24
End: 2026-08-01
Location: Belfast

Filed: 15 Jul 2023
By: Belfast Whiskey Week
Read: 5 min
Ref: BWW/23/964

On a Friday afternoon in October 2023, festival-goers laced up their boots and stepped out into the streets of Belfast for something a little different — a three-hour journey through the city's layered whiskey heritage, guided by the warmth and wit of Belfast Hidden Tours. This was no ordinary pub crawl. Walking, Whiskies & Whispers was seanchas on foot — the living memory of a city that has been distilling, drinking, and storytelling for centuries, brought back to breath by two guides who clearly love every cobbled corner of it.

About This Event

Both Fionnuala and Conor take turns to bring our Festival Goers the chance to walk through Belfast; sampling our local whiskies, Festival Food and visiting great pubs. This Bespoke walk combines Belfast Hidden Tours' love of Whiskey Heritage, Belfast Histories and some great hidden places that need to be explored and not forgotten. Be prepared to listen attentively; don’t miss the stories of those individuals and businesses that have built the Belfast Industry through the last few hundred years. Industrial Whiskey and Heritage is brought to life by well versed guides who have a great sense of humour and pride in their City! This walking tour will also include one of our collaborative Whiskey Donuts from “Oh Donuts” and/or bespoke food from “Tribal”. Timeslot: 3pm-6pm Start Time: 3pm Duration: 3hrs Venue: Multiple Locations Drinks: 5 Drams Type: Walking Tour Walking: Be Prepared to Walk around Belfast. Some of the areas & venues may not be fully accessible, please contact us @belfastwhiskeyweek on socials, or via email on marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com or 07773675179 (8am-8pm) to discuss. Disclaimers Please note that individual dietary requirements are not being catered for with any food at this event. Each Brand/Distillery and Collaborative Partner have agreed to our Min/Max Pour Policy. Please Respect this, and enjoy your festival responsibly. Festival Participants who are deemed to be too inebriated, or are not respecting themselves, will not be permitted into events and venues. ALL Hosts/Ushers/Collaborators and Venue Staff have the right to refuse participants without question and recourse. Please Drink Responsibly. All events are only available to those 18 years old and over. Do not purchase tickets if you are under the age of 18. Be prepared to produce ID if required. Venue staff & ushers may ask you to provide ID when showing your valid tickets. You may be refused enter to events if you can’t prove your age. Some venues may change, if they do, you will be notified. All events are subject to changes out of the control of the festival organisers. Any issues, please contact us @belfastwhiskeyweek on socials, or via email on marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com or 07773675179 (8am-8pm) to discuss. NO Refunds will be given. Please only buy tickets if you are prepared to attend the event. Tickets are transferable. If you are going to transfer tickets please email, marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com

Looking Back

Fionnuala and Conor, the twin voices of Belfast Hidden Tours, took turns steering their groups through the city's less-trodden paths across the three-hour timeslot running from 3pm to 6pm. Their approach is disarming in the best possible way — equal parts scholar and seanachie, they have the rare gift of making history feel like gossip, and gossip feel like history. Participants found themselves pausing at doorways, laneways, and corners that most Belfasters walk past without a second glance, suddenly alive with stories of the individuals and industries that shaped the city's uisce beatha tradition across the last few hundred years.

Five drams punctuated the walk — each one chosen to complement a moment in the story rather than interrupt it. These weren't mere pit stops; the whiskey was woven into the narrative, a liquid thread connecting the industrial past to the vibrant present of Belfast's distilling renaissance. Between pours, the city itself became the tasting notes: the sheugh and smoke of old Belfast, the mercantile swagger of the Victorian streets, the quiet pride of a place rebuilding its sense of tír and identity through craft and culture. For those keen to explore that heritage further, our Whiskey Map offers a fine companion for continuing the journey at your own pace.

The food element was a genuine highlight and a fine example of what Belfast Whiskey Week does best — building a festival ecosystem of local collaborators. Attendees were treated to one of the now-legendary whiskey doughnuts from Oh Donuts, a collaboration that sounds whimsical until you taste one and realise it's an entirely sensible idea. Bespoke bites from Tribal added further ballast, grounding the drams in something more sustaining than fresh air and good company alone. It was festival food done with care and local pride.

What set this event apart within BWW2023's walking tour programme was its specificity of place. Belfast Hidden Tours doesn't deal in generic heritage — they deal in the real duchas of this city, the inherited sense of belonging and accumulated knowledge that only comes from people who have genuinely dug into the archives, the oral traditions, and the back rooms of Belfast's oldest establishments. Alongside other excellent walking experiences in the programme, such as Belfast Walking Tours: Belfast's Public Houses & Art Trail and Irish Whiskey Review: Walking With Marty, this event confirmed that the streets of Belfast are as rich a festival venue as any whisky bar or tasting room.

Sláinte to Fionnuala, Conor, and everyone who joined them on the afternoon of Friday 28th October 2023. Walking, Whiskies & Whispers was exactly what its title promised — and then some. If you missed it, Belfast Hidden Tours run experiences year-round, and BWW has been proud to partner with them across multiple editions of the festival. Keep an eye on future programming; this one tends to sell out for good reason.