As Belfast becomes more prosperous and its citizens have more disposable income, culture and the arts are becoming economically important to the city. Belfast City Council has promoted culture with the goals of encouraging creativity, bringing communities together to facilitate reconciliation, and creating new jobs. In 2004–05 culture and arts initiatives created the equivalent of 413 full-time jobs (37% more than the previous year). A combination of relative peace, international investment and an active promotion of arts and culture is attracting more tourists to Belfast than ever before. 5.9 million people visited Belfast in 2004–05 (up 10% from the previous year) and spent £262.5 million. Féile an Phobail claims to be Belfast's largest festival and further claims to be one of the biggest community festivals in Europe. It hosts an annual Summer-time festival of Irish and International culture that takes place in and around the Falls Road in Belfast as well as smaller festivals throughout the year, such as "Féile an Earraigh", the Spring festival. It has hosted the likes of Altan, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Westlife and Girls Aloud and also hosts political discussions and debates with international guests. Queens University hosted and funded the annual international Belfast Festival until 2015. The Festival covers all art forms including theatre, dance, classical music, literature, jazz, comedy, visual arts, folk music and popular music, and attracting over 50,000 visitors, making it the largest of its kind in Ireland. 2007 will see the 45th anniversary of the festival. Tennents Vital is popular festival held in Boucher Playing Fields in August each year. Belsonic is another annual August music festival held in the redeveloped Titanic Quarter  Belfast has one major theatre, The Lyric. It is the only full-time producing theatre in the country. The Lyric theatre is where film star Liam Neeson began his career and local playwrights Martin Lynch and Marie Jones have both written plays for the theatre. Kenneth Branagh, another British film actor, was also born in Belfast. The Old Museum Arts Centre is a 19th-century building in the city centre which runs a programme of music, theatre, comedy, dance workshops, and a ground floor art gallery with regular exhibitions. Belfast has several venues for performing arts. The Grand Opera House, completed in 1895, was bombed several times during the Troubles but has been restored to its former glory. The Ulster Hall (1859–1862) was originally designed for grand dances but is now used primarily as a concert and sporting venue.