While much of the Fleadh's festival of tunes and songs are focused on Irish folk and traditional, other genres do get a look in.

Below we've got Buail Feirste bringing a Brazilian samba sensibility to the Fleadh - close your eyes and you could almost be in Rio (or Ri-yeeeeoooww if you prefer).

Image source, Volunteer Now

More than 1,300 volunteers have been helping visitors throughout the Fleadh, from welcoming people to Belfast to giving directions across the city centre.

The people giving up their time to help this week – for free - have come from across Ireland and further afield with ages among the volunteer force ranging from 17 to 80 years old.

Among them is Addyson McGowan, who has travelled almost 1,500 miles from Florida as part of a study abroad programme.

“It’s awesome. I love seeing all the instruments, I love the music,” she says. “Everyone’s admiring everyone and it feels like such a safe place to be - it’s so heartwarming.”

Belfast volunteer Kevin McVeigh says he’s proud to help showcase his home city.

“I’m a big fan of volunteering. It is the social glue that helps foster good relations with people.”

You can read more about the volunteers here.

William Crawley, on our Talkback radio programme, delved into the history of the event - from its origins to the present day, with Niall McClean -Chairman of Ards branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, and Méabh Ní Fhuartáin - Author of "Heading to the Fleadh: Festival, Cultural Revival and Irish Traditional Music".

You can listen to that discussion below.

Community volunteers in Belfast are using the Fleadh to celebrate the city’s growing diversity through music, food and arts events.

The programme, organised by volunteers from groups including Anaka Women’s Collective and CATU, features arts and crafts, dancing, film and food from a range of cultures. The café is serving dishes prepared by asylum seeker chefs who are not yet able to work.

Soso Ní Cheallaigh said the Fleadh was an opportunity to reflect the changing face of Belfast.

“It’s important to show all the different cultures we have in Belfast throughout the Fleadh. We have an Irish international tradition now that extends to all members of our communities."

Twasul Mohammed said the space had become a safe way for many women to experience the festival.

“Many of the women here in Anaka don’t get to see the events of the Fleadh because they don’t feel safe going to any place. This is a safe place where they can come and enjoy part of the Fleadh, see musicians, listen to music and take part in the different events we are hosting.”

"We want everyone to enjoy the fleadh but also show solidarity with refugees and the homeless community in Northern Ireland."

Robbie Meredith
BBC News NI Education Correspondent

The Irish language is playing a central role at this year’s Fleadh, with events for speakers, learners and complete beginners taking place across Belfast.

At the Irish Language Hub in the MAC, Sorcha Campbell says everyone is welcome.

“There’s lots going on for families, for learners and for people who don’t speak Irish but just want to have a listen and learn a cúpla focal, or a few words of Irish.”

About 600 students are also taking part in classes at Scoil Éigse in Ulster University. Tutor Kieran Hanrahan said it’s “heartening” to see so many young people eager to develop their Irish language and music skills.

One of them is 14-year-old Cuán Ó Lorcáin from Dublin, who is competing in fiddle and sean-nós singing.

“The Irish language is very important… I love singing through Irish, and without it the atmosphere at the Fleadh wouldn’t be the same.”

Claire Graham
BBC News NI

Cillian Vallely from Lúnasa has told BBC News NI there is some emotion with playing in Belfast as part of the Fleadh.

"The whole area that's been pedestrianised, that was all barricades and you had nobody playing fiddles and sets of pipes on the street 30 years ago," he said.

"And it's great outside the City Hall that you have all the main concerts up there.

"It's going to be great to get the chance to play up there."

Lúnasa will be performing on Evening Extra tonight, you can listen on BBC Radio Ulster or BBC Sounds from 17:00 BST.

Finn Purdy
BBC News NI

About 2,500 passengers travelling on the cruise ship the Carnival Legends disembarked in Belfast on Friday morning, with many hoping to soak up some of the music and atmosphere at the Fleadh.

Dennis and Lana Hopping from Missouri are on their first trip Belfast.

“I’m hoping to see the downtown and I heard there might be a music festival and so we’re hoping to go see all that and hear the music”, Lana said.

“Sounds like a lot of fun to me,” Dennis added.

Terri Corson and her daughter Shelby from North Carolina said they had Irish heritage and had always wanted to visit the island.

“It’s been beautiful so far,” Terri said.

Shelby said she was looking forward to visiting shops and restaurants in Belfast and experiencing the culture.“We’ve been waiting all week for Belfast,” Terri added.

Tom Cullen from California, also on his first visit to Belfast, said the trip was his retirement gift to his wife.

He said they were looking forward to music, adding: “My wife will dance to anything”.“I’m with seven women so I’m kinda at the mercy of what they want to see and I’m just tagging along.”

Some of you have been getting in touch via our contact form (on the left here) to tell us your experiences of the Fleadh in Belfast.

Mark says: "Loved the atmosphere. Great to see people from all traditions there."

Susan says: "Went in on Thursday parked in Castle Court, found a disabled bay and off to the Fleadh. Smooth journey - well done to everyone involved."

And Hugh says: "A fantastic occasion and a credit to all visitors as to how clean the streets are, free from rubbish."

A Belfast councillor has called for more support for homeless people as the Fleadh continues in the city.

Paul McCusker says more must be done to help people sleeping rough, as homeless people have been "pushed to the peripheries of the city centre".

He said homeless services had dealt with five overdoses since Sunday, adding: “When people are being moved on it’s more difficult for services to link with them.

"We are seeing more people in Botanic and more people around Queen's University," he told the Nolan Show this morning.

The Housing Executive say: "26 crash beds are available in Belfast each night for immediate, short-term support while longer-term options for individuals are explored."

McCusker is curious as to what happens next - "Is that person going to return to the streets?”

He said: “Moving people on does not solve the issue... It is trying to cover up a major issue we have in Belfast in terms of homelessness and addiction."

Belfast City Council says a multi-agency approach is in place to ensure support continues to be available for vulnerable residents as the visitor numbers increase.

The PSNI say their "officers will be present to support public safety" and that they will work to "ensure appropriate safeguarding arrangements are in place for vulnerable people".

Mark Simpson
BBC News NI

More than 300 campervans and caravans are parked beside Belfast’s famous yellow cranes.

It’s an official site for overnight stays during the Fleadh.

The shipbuilding cranes - nicknamed Samson and Goliath after Biblical giants - date to 1969 and 1974. They have become emblematic of the city, and everything from keychains to plantpots shaped like them are purchasable.

Mike McBride
BBC News NI

Image source, Down Right Musical Trio

The Down Right Musical Trio, made up of Jack Rogers, Conor Collins and Bernard Goodwin, are celebrating a remarkable journey that began with online music lessons during the Covid-19 pandemic and has led to them performing at this year’s Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

The three musicians, who all have Down’s syndrome, share a passion for traditional Irish music and have been supported throughout their musical journey by the Foyle Down Syndrome Trust.

Speaking on BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme, Conor Collins said they thoroughly enjoyed their performance in Belfast and that many people in the crowd were incredibly supportive. Jack said that, despite performing in front of a huge audience, they were surprisingly not nervous.

He added that playing music is the best way to relax.

Darran Marshall
BBC News NI

Some people we spoke to didn't know the Fleadh would be on in Belfast when they came for other things - but they were happily surprised.

Christine Lennanis fromFraserburgh, north of Aberdeen, and travelled for 15 hours to get to Belfast.

It’s Christine’s first time in the city and she says she’ll definitely be back.

She didn’t know the Fleadh would be on when she booked but says “It’s been great. It’s brilliant – music everywhere, lovely, really enjoyed it.”

Karen Burns, from South Shields, in north east England, is on her first visit to Belfast.

A Manchester United fan, she crossed the Irish Sea to visit George Best's family home.

“It’s amazing. It's like being at home," she says.

"Everybody is brilliant and friendly. They help you. I’m getting lost and I’ve asked for directions, ‘oh I’ll show you’, it’s brilliant. The whole place is fantastic.”

Barry O'Connor
BBC News NI

If you've walked through the city centre this week, there's a fair chance you'll have seen people performing, from céilí bands to marching bands and Irish dancing, there's something for everyone.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Pacemaker

In general the Fleadh has been hailed as a success for Belfast, including in the way it has incorporated Protestant and unionist traditions in to its marching band events and at the City Hall - more on that here.

But there have been a few discordant notes too.

On Thursday a food business apologised after it was heard to play a pro-IRA song.

A spokesman for the business, a food van, said they were "absolutely devastated" when they realised a playlist they were playing contained the song, which they played "unintentionally".

The campaign group Let's Talk Loyalism lodged a complaint about the incident and requested that organisers condemn it, and Moore Holmes from the group told the BBC's Evening Extra programme on Thursday that he wanted the council to review the matter and the Fleadh to condemn the incident.

"I think it would be very beneficial for the Fleadh to come out and condemn this," Holmes said.

"If you tolerate it when it's small then it grows into something that it shouldn't be."

Some politicians also spoke out against what had happened.

MLA Brian Kingston wrote to the city council, saying: "There is a great deal of positive activity this week and it is essential that council ensures no tolerance of those wishing to promote or excuse terrorism."

A statement from the business read: "The team were playing a public playlist and due to their busyness in the truck, didn’t notice when the inappropriate song came on."

Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann wrote in a statement that they "do not support any behaviour or music that could cause offence or intimidation".

If you're not able to make it to Belfast, check out our YouTube documentary looking back at the first few days of the Fleadh.

BBC News NI's Jamie McColgan meets young people from the Ed Sheeran Foundation as well as the band Wilde Rose.

You can watch it below.

Belfast has just come through a week that people are already calling historic.

The Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann has brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets for a festival of Irish music and culture hosted in Belfast for the very first time.

On Talkback today, presenter William Crawley brought together guests to ask what it says about Belfast right now, and whether this could be a real turning point for the city.

He spoke to Glenn Miller, from the Belfast Bands Forum, Professor Duncan Morrow from the Ulster University, Irish-language teacher and activist Linda Ervine, and Irish News columnist Chris Donnelly.

You can listen below.

Barry O'Connor
BBC News NI

Music and pints both flowed in the city centre at lunchtime today.

Dry weather allowed this session to spill out onto the cobblestones and even as competitions were happening in venues around the city centre, craic was mighty in and around the pubs.

This weekend is only to get busier!

John Campbell
BBC News NI economics and business editor

At the start of the week, Northern Ireland's economy minister was saying the Fleadh could bring in £53m; by the end of the week, she thought the boost to Belfast would be more than that.

It will take some time to get a full estimate, however.

When assessing the impact of an event like the Fleadh, economists try to work out the ‘additionality’ - the extra economic impact which has only occurred as a result of the event.

That is more complicated than just multiplying the number of estimated visitors by an estimated amount of spending per head.

They have to assess ‘deadweight’ - the tourist spending that would have happened anyway and ‘leakage’ - the spending with leaks away from Belfast to businesses based elsewhere, such as international drinks companies.

There is also the impact of ‘reallocation’ - spending by local people which simply moves from one business to another and ‘displacement’ - spending which doesn’t happen such as people choosing not to do their usual city centre shopping during the event.

The Fleadh has characteristics which means it is good at generating additionality:

• it attracts people from outside Belfast and NI
• it happens over a week which helps drive spending on accommodation
• it is decentralised with spending across multiple businesses

The Fleadh was part of Derry’s Capital of Culture in 2013 and a post-event analysis found that it was by far the most significant event in generating additionality across that year.

Read more on the economic projections here.

Catherine Morrison
BBC News Northern Ireland reporter

There's a queue of people already waiting to get in to the grounds of Belfast City Hall. Those inside have come prepared, with camping chairs and picnics.

This afternoon there's a céilí, some cross-cultural music and two well-known groups: TRIP and Lúnasa - line-up here, external.

The Fleadh is a festival of Irish music and culture, so fiddles, tin whistles, bodhráns and accordions predominate.

But some musicians are bringing a more international flavour to proceedings, with instruments including the rubab and the daf.

The charity Beyond Skin invited some musicians to perform traditional instruments from their home countries.

Soraya Hoesseini, originally from Afghanistan, plays the rubab, which is her country's national instrument.

"It’s not just about music," she says.

"It’s about a connection between people and different cultures here.

In every corner of the city there are musicians from different cultures. I have met with musicians connecting through Persian, Syrian and Irish musical cultures"

Sara Fotros, who's originally from Iran but living in London, plays the daf, a drum that is played with the hand, rather than a stick. She has been learning from local musicians whilst visiting.

"I had the opportunity to meet bodhrán players and play with them and learn some new techniques from them.

"Throughout this week I’ve noticed how much Irish people love music and they’ve been very really welcoming… they’re not only interested in the music that I play but the culture I come from also.”