One last time…

Today’s blog is brought to you courtesy of the excellent geniuses in the Apple Store – they took one brain-frozen Mac, one disconsolate, forlorn owner, replaced one little cable (its purposes known only to the Inner Sanctum of technorati) and…Voila!  I’m back, baby!

So… here we are.  It feels a little bit surreal.  The anniversary has finally arrived, the focus of months of preparation, so many ideas, plans, so much prep and sheer hard work… And now it’s arrived.  And we’re gonna do it right.

One striking word I keep hearing when asking people in the TQ “How are ya?” over the past few days.  Two weeks ago, everyone answered Excited! Pumped Up! It’s Our Time!… one week ago, most people answered Tired…Knackered…Is It All Over Yet?  This week, the word is: “Emotional”.

For those of us (and I hope you’ve found ways to join me) who have followed along this great story, this Titanic story, in drama, music, spectacle, image, song, poetry, story – the wonderful rollercoaster rush of events over these weeks – the moment where we commemorate that terrible crash has real power.  As well as events at the City Hall, St Anne’s Cathedral and the Drawing Offices over the weekend, I’m involved in a special vigil tomorrow night at Titanic Belfast where we will mark the 11:40pm anniversary of that fateful crash with a virtual choir, a reading of Titanic’s SOS messages and a reading-aloud of the names of those who were lost by lantern-light in the shadow of Titanic Belfast.  Not much makes me nervous these days, but I have butterflies in my stomach as we approach this.  Lips may wobble.  This city will truly, properly pay a profound and heartfelt tribute to that tragic moment which shook so many lives, echoed around the world and still resounds down through the decades.

So, one last time, one last diary (for now…!)  Again updated as more events keep emerging, these are your chances to connect with this story and join the city in a Titanic Commemoration to match and balance our Titanic Celebration of a week ago.  Both are important.  And both are being done in Belfast like nowhere else in the world.

Saturday 14th April
5:30pm and 11:40pm ‘Titanic the Musical’ at the Grand Opera House – www.goh.co.uk
6pm Titanic Memorial Lecture by Dr Robert Ballard at Titanic Belfast – www.titanicbelfast.com
8pm ‘White Star of the North’ at Lyric Theatre – www.lyrictheatre.co.uk
8pm ‘A Better Boy – Thomas Andrews, Shipwright’ at the Belfast Barge – www.belfastcity.gov.uk/titanic/
8:30pm Titanic: A Commemoration in Music and Film at Waterfront Hall (& live on BBC2) – www.belfastcity.gov.uk/titanic/
9pm Titanic Requiem at St Anne’s Cathedral – www.belfastcathedral.org
11pm ‘Water Night – A Titanic Vigil’ at Titanic Belfastwww.titanicbelfast.com
11:30pm ‘Titanic – Minute By Minute’ on BBC Radio 2
‘Titanic 3D’ in cinemas nationwide
SS Nomadic open for hard-hat tours – www.nomadicbelfast.com

Sunday 15th April
6:20am Live coverage of Titanic Centenary events on BBC2
9am Unveiling of Memorial Garden at City Hall – www.belfastcity.gov.uk/titanic/
11am Titanic Requiem at St Peter’s Cathedral – www.belfastcity.gov.uk/titanic/
11am ‘From Loch Ness to the North Atlantic’ – City Hall – www.belfastcity.gov.uk/titanic/
11:30am ‘Into The Deep’ at Titanic Belfast – www.titanicbelfast.com
3pm ‘A Night To Remember’ on BBC2
3:30pm Titanic Commemoration Service and pilgrimage walk at St Anne’s Cathedral – www.belfastcathedral.org
4:10pm ‘Saving the Titanic’ on Channel 4
7:30pm ‘The Titanic Story’ at the Ulster Hall – www.belfastcity.gov.uk/titanic
8pm ‘Theatre Titanick’ at Titanic Belfast – www.belfastcity.gov.uk/titanic/
8pm ‘A Better Boy – Thomas Andrews, Shipwright’ at the Belfast Barge – www.belfastcity.gov.uk/titanic/
9pm ‘Titanic’ (Julian Fellowes version) on UTV
10pm ‘Titanic: The Missing Link’ on UTV
11:15pm ‘Words of the Titanic’ on UTV
‘Titanic 3D’ in cinemas nationwide
SS Nomadic open for hard-hat tours – www.nomadicbelfast.com

 PS… the staircase.  Wondering if I was going to mention it, were ya?  Unless you’ve recently arrived from Outer Andromeda, you’ll have heard that the Grand Staircase in Titanic Belfast is (mostly) accessible only at functions in the banqueting suite rather than bread-and-butter tours, and some people are very, very annoyed.  Well, there are business arguments, ethical, moral, spiritual (probably) and practical arguments about the rights-and-wrongs of this, and I don’t really want to get sucked down that road.

I just want to say this: there’s a phenomenal new visitor attraction in Belfast, a gleaming addition to the city’s skyline.  Standing underneath its soaring hulls, catching that glimpse of what it felt to be one of Titanic’s builders, is free as a bird.  Entering the foyer to admire the glorious architecture, the criss-crossing escalators, the huge metal wall, the giant compass… no charge.  There’ a gallery (the Thomas Andrews Gallery) with a permanent photography exhibition and a rolling programme of events and lectures, open to the public, pay not a penny.  The slipways – the fabulous, sensitive, evocative treatment of Titanic’s ‘Ground Zero’ which I raved about a few days ago – a free-to-access public park.  Over the past fortnight, there have been events ranging from the intimate and profoundly moving (like the Titanic Diaries series) to the epic and spectacular (like the Titanic Light show – have you seen this video of the highlights?); cost to you Sir? – £0.00.

Wouldn’t it be great if we were grateful?