Belfast Hoop Gathering

Name: Belfast Hoop Gathering
Start: 2026-05-09T09:00:00+01:00
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

Schedule

Sat, 09 May, 2026 at 09:00 am

UTC+01:00

Location

Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK | Belfast, NI

Belfast Hoop Gathering 2026
Saturday May 9th and Sunday May 10th 2026

The time has come to gather again! I am very excited.
After ten years of running Manchester hoop congress and then a six year hiatus I am super excited to host a lovely little hoop gathering in Belfast for the the first time!
We have space for 20 peoples to come and play.
Come and have a little hoop break. Explore Belfast, explore hula hooping, Bring a friend or come and make new ones.
There is nothing that feeds the soul and speeds up your hoop practice like in person hoop workshops where you get to hang out with people who love the thing you love and learn loads of cool new stuff.
Prerequisites: The event is suitable for all levels. I think you will get more out of it if you have done at least a little bit of hoop before and are confident waist and hand hooping.
The event is for over 18's and is not suitable for kiddos. I reserve the right to refund tickets bought for under 18's.

DAY ONE: Saturday 9th May, 9.00am - 6pm HOOP INFORMATION
Four hoop workshops with world class teachers: Jo Mondy, Kathrin Wagner, Gracie May Marshall and Gail O'Brien covering everything from balances to bramsons integrating flow and fancy single and double hoop moves.
Gail O'Brien - Making the fundamentals fancy - Cool single hoop tricks and where to add that second hoop.
Gracie May Marshall- Intro to Bramson rolls
Jo Mondy - Express yourself! - Hoop flow workshop
Kathrin Wagner - Creative Hoop Balancing

DAY TWO: Sunday 10th May 9.30am - 5.15pm HOOP INTEGRATION
A choose your own adventure morning followed by an afternoon of play and practice.
Morning:
Option A - 9.30am Hop (hoop?) on the direct 20min train ride (it's about £7 tickets at staion or on the train) from Belfast to Helens Bay. Meet me at the beach, hang out, take a guided dip, hoop/wander the coastal path or forest.
Its so stunning - tumble off the train and its a straight 5 min walk to the beach. We can have a dip play hoops and bubbles or the coastal path is beautiful for a wander or you can turn up into the forest and take a little break for your brain. You can either get the 11.45 train back and have lunch in town or bring a picnic and spend longer at the beach getting the 12.45 train back.
Option B - If you want some time to yourself or to see the city you can sleep in, then wander round the city centre, grab an Ulster Fry for breakfast, look at the street art or tour the city hall. Check out the Ulster museum or have a little hoop in the Botanic gardens.
Afternoon:
2pm - 5pm Practice and play. So often at hoop events we take so many hoop workshops and cram in so much info but don't get space to practice and absorb any of it. Sunday afternoon will be open studio time where there will be space and time to integrate the things you learned. Time to ask questions from the teachers and each other to dial in those moves. Time to stretch out your body and add the new stuff to your flow.
5pm - 5.15pm Closing chat, the obligatory group photo and then you are free to explore more or make your way home.
BUT GAIL IT'S NORTHERN IRELAND WHAT IF IT RAINS. If it looks insanely awful weather we can flip things around and do hoop Practice and Play late morning then go find food and hang out in the afternoon. Don't worry!

Tickets are £125 and we have 20 spaces
https://www.hoopspin.co.uk/collections/hoopspin-hoop-classes/products/belfast-hoop-gathering
Cancellation Policy.
Tickets will be refunded minus a £25 administration fee up to 11th April 2026 after which no refunds will be issued. You can resell your ticket but in the event that we sell out we'd love you to help you do that through the waiting list.
Getting here:
The venue is bang in the middle of town at 39 Corporation Street, Belfast and there is parking on site during the weekend.
The train station is around 15min walk away or you can hop on the bus from the train station into the city centre.
Either airport is fine.
Belfast City airport is 15 mins from Belfast
Belfast International airport is 45 mins from Belfast
Dublin Airport - 2-3 hour bus ride it leaves from right outside the terminal.
Ferry terminals are either in the city centre (from Liverpool) or about an hour north and there are buses (From Scotland)
It's always worth double checking you haven't booked yourself flying into one airport and out of the other it's easily done (I would never).
The buses from the airport will also drop you right into town.
Accomodation:
It's right in the city centre you can see the Ramada hotel from the window but there are many other hotels and even a youth hostel option.
Air bnb often has full apartment/house options.
I'm making a facebook event on April 2nd so you can post on there for room buddies/air bnb friends maybe local peoples with rooms.
You will need to sort out sharing etc between your wee selves I cannot do it but feel free to run your air bnb by me if you aren't sure about the area etc.
Food:
Common Market food court is directly opposite the building https://commonmarketbelfast.com/
There is also a Tesco express 5 mins away (you can also see it from the building!)
There are various restaurants and coffee shops super close. And a Greggs if you want to keep it simple!

If you have questions that aren't answered here then drop me an email here or at [email protected]
I still have the question stick from running Manchester Hoop Congress and I will use it to gently admonish you if you ask questions that I already wrote the answer too.
Love you all.
Gail
Tickets available HERE:
https://www.hoopspin.co.uk/collections/hoopspin-hoop-classes/products/belfast-hoop-gathering
We have only 20 spaces this year I want to keep it cosy and make sure we all have room.

Cover Photo by See Ying Yip