The Belfast Festival is pleased to announce that the gamble has paid off and that audiences exceeded those of any other year . . . The Frankie Kennedy Winter School will be opened by the broadcaster John Kelly on Monday December 29th and runs until January 1st, with classes in flute, fiddle, uilleann pipes, accordion and accompaniment - the concerts this year are by Bumblebees, Cooney and Begley, Altan, Maighread Ni Dhomnaill and Proinnsias O Maonaigh - information on 075-32127 during office hours or email on gearoidm@iol.ie or tlugh@iol.ie . . . An exhibition on the life of Kate O'Brien opened yesterday at the Dublin Writers' Museum . . . Applications are invited from artists interested in being selected for the percent-for-art scheme, which is part of the Crawford Gallery's building programme - contact the gallery on 021-273377 to find out the parameters for the applications which must be in by December 19th . . . Ten of Ireland's leading printmakers have come together to create a series of original prints to raise funds for the Wandsford Quay Project, which will re-house Cork Printmakers and the Backwater Artists' Group - for more information contact Irene Fitzgerald or Louise O'Flynn on 021-551255.