People with an interest in modern culture who are on the lookout for an autumn break should hop on cheap ferries between October 17th and November 1st to visit the Belfast Festival at Queen's.
This major cultural event will feature opening and closing concerts presented by two influential musical figures, starting with a concert conducted by film composer Ennio Morricone at the Waterfront Hall on October 17th and 18th.
Barbara Cook, who made her name in the 1950s and has since appeared in leading roles in Oklahoma, The King and I, Showboat and many other Broadway shows, will perform at the Waterfront Hall on October 31st.
Other musical acts will include 2008 Mercury Music Prize winners Elbow at the Grand Opera House on October 26th and Martha Wainwright at the same venue on the 31st.
Theatre lovers will also find plenty to pique their interest at the festival, with new productions of a Midsummer Night's Dream and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof being staged at Ormeau Park and the Stranmillis College Theatre respectively.
People interested in visiting the festival can catch cheap ferries to Belfast from the Isle of Man, Liverpool and Stranraer with the Steam Packet Company, Norfolkline and Stena Line.