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music · Saturday 22 August 2026 · 6:00pm 
Stiff Little Fingers - Putting the Fast in Belfast 8 at CHSq
At Custom House Square (CHSq) · Custom House Square, Belfast, Co. Antrim
At Custom House Square (CHSq) · Custom House Square, Belfast, Co. Antrim
Stiff Little Fingers returning to their home city for a late-summer outdoor show is always an occasion, but this one is the eighth year running. Putting the Fast in Belfast has grown into one of Northern Ireland’s most anticipated punk events - a homecoming that draws fans from across Ireland and beyond who want the real thing: the Belfast band that helped define a genre, playing the city that shaped them. If you have any interest in punk, new wave, or simply a well-curated outdoor gig with a lineup that actually means something, this is worth the trip.
The show at Custom House Square on 22 August 2026 is headlined by Stiff Little Fingers, whose 1979 debut album Inflammable Material remains one of the most important punk records ever made. Formed in Belfast in 1977, the band - Jake Burns, Ali McMordie, Steve Grantley and Ian McCallum - still play with the urgency that made them matter. Supporting them is a lineup that reads like a concentrated history of UK and Irish punk: The Undertones, the Derry band behind Teenage Kicks; Ruts DC, veterans of the original London punk scene; Sabrejets, Belfast’s own hard-driving rock and rollers; and DJ Terri Hooley, the Belfast record shop owner who released Teenage Kicks and became a legend of the city’s music scene in the process. Gates open at 6pm.
Custom House Square is Belfast’s flagship outdoor concert venue, set against the neoclassical Custom House building in the Cathedral Quarter. It has hosted Paolo Nutini, Snow Patrol and Fatboy Slim - it holds large crowds and has strong acoustics for an open-air space. For a punk gig of this scale, expect a standing crowd, a proper festival atmosphere and a long evening.
Custom House Square is in central Belfast, a few minutes’ walk from Lanyon Place (formerly Belfast Central) train station - the main rail hub connecting to Dublin, Derry and most of Northern Ireland. Great Victoria Street station is also within walking distance. Translink buses serve the Cathedral Quarter from across the city and from the bus stations nearby. If you are driving, there is multi-storey parking at Victoria Square shopping centre, a short walk away. Belfast city centre parking on a Saturday evening is generally manageable if you arrive before the show builds up.
The Cathedral Quarter itself is packed with bars, restaurants and music venues - St Anne’s Square and Hill Street are a couple of minutes on foot and good for a meal or a pint before the show. There is more to see in Belfast and across Co. Antrim.
Heading to Custom House Square (CHSq) in Belfast? Antrim has plenty more to see. Read the Belfast area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.