Ulster Hall

You get a single large Victorian hall in the middle of Belfast that the operator lists for between 930 and 1,669 people, so one booking covers a keynote, an awards night or a gala dinner without moving guests between buildings. Delegates can walk in from the city centre in about two minutes, and the hall’s entertainments team, which also programmes Waterfront Hall, takes conference, community, education and wedding enquiries as well as concerts. Ulster Hall opened in 1862 on Bedford Street and is run by Belfast Waterfront and Ulster Hall Ltd, a company wholly owned by Belfast City Council.

Event spaces and capacities

You book one main space here. The venue’s hire form lists Ulster Hall at a capacity of 930 to 1,669 but does not say which figure applies to which layout or publish a floor area. Its seating plan splits the hall into a ground floor and a balcony, and the operator’s own photographs show the floor set with round tables for dinners as well as cleared for standing concerts. If you need more room, the same team offers Waterfront Hall (1,880 to 2,300) and Waterfront Studio (276 to 333), and ICC Belfast is the operator’s conference brand.

Space	Area (m²)	Theatre	Reception	Banquet	Classroom	Cabaret
Ulster Hall (ground floor and balcony)	Not published	Not published	Not published	Not published	Not published	Not published

The venue publishes an overall capacity of 930 to 1,669 rather than figures per layout, on its hire page, checked 5 November 2026. The seating plan shows the ground floor and balcony blocks.

Getting there and parking

Your delegates can reach the hall without a car. The venue says it is a two-minute walk from the city centre, and the bus depot at City Hall, which it says serves all main routes, is also two minutes away on foot. For drivers it names two multi-storey car parks nearby, Dublin Road on Hardcastle Street and Great Northern on Great Victoria Street, plus on-street parking. Both car parks are run by outside companies and the venue warns some may be closed on certain dates. It points electric vehicle drivers to a map of the nearest public charging points and says both named car parks have dedicated accessible spaces. It does not publish loading bay or vehicle access details for event set-up.

Catering, AV and accommodation

For audience events the hall runs its own bars, which the venue says stock locally sourced snacks, local craft beers, wines, spirits, Johnsons coffee and Barry’s tea. Bars take card payments only, and visitors may not bring their own food or drink. Some events use reusable cups with a £1 levy on the first drink. The venue does not publish a catering menu, a caterer policy or a delegate rate for private hire, nor an in-house AV list, so ask for these with your quote.

On access, the venue says entry is at street level, lifts reach every floor, the customer service desk has a ramp and low counter, and a small number of wheelchairs can be borrowed. It runs a Sennheiser Mobile Connect hearing system over Wi-Fi, is certified JAM Card friendly, and publishes British and Irish Sign Language access videos and an AccessAble guide. On sustainability, the operator says it fitted a combined heat and power unit in 2019 to cut emissions.

What to ask before you book

• Which layout the 930 and 1,669 figures on the hire form refer to, and the seated dinner and theatre numbers for the ground floor with and without the balcony.
• Whether your event can use the hall’s own bars and catering team, or whether an outside caterer is allowed, given the no outside food rule for audiences.
• What staging, rigging, sound and lighting come with the hire, as the operator’s photographs show a lighting truss over the stage but no kit list is published.
• Where crews load in on Bedford Street and how long you get for set-up and breakdown.
• Whether parking can be held for your guests, since the two car parks the venue names are privately run and may be shut on some dates.
• When you can arrange a site visit, as the venue says it is closed to the public on non-event days and arranges familiarisation visits by email.

Related on Events Review

• Conference venues in Belfast
• Historic event venues
• Conference and exhibition venues
• ICC Belfast, the operator’s conference brand
• Belfast City Hall
• Titanic Belfast
• Ulster Museum
• Europa Hotel
• Grand Central Hotel Belfast
• Liverpool City Halls, another Victorian civic hall
• Turn venue accessibility claims into a usable event plan
• Choose the venue around the event, not the headline capacity

Sources: Hire the Hall, Ulster Hall venue page, My visit to the Ulster Hall, Accessibility, Seating plan, Corporate social responsibility, Re-usable cup scheme, Careers and Wedding receptions on ulsterhall.co.uk, checked 5 November 2026.