# Shine is back at the Limelight, which is where it started

Source: https://nisocial.com/shine-belfast-back-at-the-limelight/
Last checked: 23 September 2026
Category: Local, Nightlife

Northern Ireland's longest-running club night began at the Limelight in 1993, spent more than twenty years at Queen's Students' Union, and now runs where it began. Three dates are booked for October 2026.

## About

Most cities lose their long-running club nights. Belfast very nearly lost this one, and then it went home.

### The short history

Shine began as A Different Drum, started by the DJ Alan Simms at the Limelight in 1993. In 1995 it moved to the Mandela Hall in Queen's University Students' Union and took the name Shine, and that is where most people's memory of it lives: underground techno and house, multiple rooms at its early-2000s peak, and a reputation that reached well beyond Northern Ireland.

The Mandela Hall closed. The final Shine there was on Saturday 28 July 2018, which a lot of people assumed was the end of it.

It was not. Shine now runs at the Limelight - the room it started in, thirty years on.

### The October dates

Three nights are currently booked, all 18+ and all starting at 10.30pm:

- Friday 2 October - Alisha in Limelight 1, with Nick Warren and Simon in Limelight 2. Two rooms, two line-ups, one night.

- Friday 9 October - Silva Bumpa in Limelight 1, with support.

- Saturday 17 October - Gaskin and Kamorah in Limelight 1.

### What to know before you go

The 10.30pm start is genuine rather than nominal. This is not a night you arrive at for nine.

Pay attention to which room you are buying for on 2 October, because the two line-ups are quite different propositions and the ticket is room-specific.

And if you have not been since the Mandela Hall days, adjust your expectations in both directions. The Limelight is a smaller, harder room than the Students' Union was at its peak, which some people prefer and some do not. It is also the room the whole thing started in, which is a better ending than the one that looked likely in 2018.

### Checked and dated

Dates and line-ups above were taken from the Limelight's own listings on 23 September 2026, and the history from the sources below. Club line-ups change; confirm before travelling.

Photograph by D-d-d-d-d-d-card, Public domain

## Sources

- Limelight Belfast - all shows https://www.limelightbelfast.com/
- Shine (nightclub) - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shine_(nightclub)
- Shine Through the Ages - Culture Northern Ireland https://www.culturenorthernireland.org/features/music/shine-through-ages
- Shine of the times: the legendary Belfast nightclub turns 20 - The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/shine-of-the-times-the-legendary-belfast-nightclub-turns-20-1.2410339