ArtsFest 2009 – Saturday in the City Centre
ArtsFest continues on Saturday with a fascinating world record attempt at forming the biggest bhangra dance group! You must register between 8am and 1pm in the Centenary Square dance marquee, with the main event taking place at 1.30pm. Other highlights include...
SATURDAY - 11.00AM - BIRMINGHAM LIBRARIES
The Library Theatre
Birmingham's Young Poet Laureate event.
SATURDAY - 11.00AM - BIRMINGHAM PHOTOSPACE
pARTicipate Marquee 2, Victoria Square
Have your portrait taken professionally. Professional photographers guided by the public will take as many portraits as possible of visitors to ArtsFest.
SATURDAY - 2.20PM - THE PLAY HOUSE
Birmingham REP - REP Door
Rainforest Symphony. Birmingham's dynamic participatory theatre company igniting children's imaginations.
SATURDAY - 3.20PM - ASTON PERFORMING ARTS ACADEMY WITH THE CBSO
Centenary Square Stage
Latino Grooves: Latin meets classical.
SATURDAY - 3.30PM - ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
Birmingham Conservatoire Recital Hall
Voice / movement workshop for over 16's. Bringing Shakespeare alive for young people.
SATURDAY - 6.30PM - NEEDLESS ALLIES
The Old Joint Stock Theatre
City Living. Interactive exploration into people's travels.
SATURDAY - 7.30PM - THE BO DUDLEYS
The Yardbird
Britain's best boogie band!
SATURDAY - 8.00PM - CLASSICAL FANTASIA WITH CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET AND BIRMINGHAM OPERA COMPANY
Centenary Square Stage
Enjoy world-class performances culminating in a spectacular fireworks display.
SATURDAY - 9.00PM - ASTRO-PHYSICS
Victoria Square Fountain Stage
Live hip hop, funk, drum n' bass.
ArtsFest 2009 – Friday in the Jewellery Quarter
ArtsFest comes to the Jewellery Quarter this weekend, kicking off on Friday.
FRIDAY - 5.00PM - STAN'S CAFé: GIANT STEPS
A E Harris Factory
Birmingham's internationally recognised theatre company, Stan's Café, present their new installation: do-it-yourself family theatre.
FRIDAY - 8.00PM - DANCING BEAR MUSICAL SOCIETY CHORAL & OPERATIC CONCERT
St. Paul's Church
Featuring A Capella Birmingham Chamber Choir and members of Instant Opera.
ArtsFest 2009 – Friday in the City Centre
This year's incarnation of ArtsFest is about to kick off, so I thought I'd spend some time going through the highlights, starting with Friday's performances across the city centre.
FRIDAY - 1.15PM - CBSO PROMOTIONAL CONCERT
Symphony Hall
Lunchtime concert with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's electrifying music.
FRIDAY - 4.30PM - BHANGRA WORLD RECORD WORKSHOP
Centenary Square Dance Marquee
Learn the dance steps for Saturday's World Record attempt.
FRIDAY - 5.25PM - SAMBA SPECTACULAR
Centenary Square Stage
Featuring Someone @ the Door Samba Band & Bloco Louco
FRIDAY - 7.00PM - THE FORTS OF KIMMY SUE ANNE... INNIT
The Prince of Wales
Chav comedy poet... Innit.
FRIDAY - 7.10PM - BEINGFRANK PHYSICAL THEATRE
Centenary Square Dance Marquee
Raging Skulls. Breath-taking dance, parkour and breakdance.
FRIDAY - 8.00PM - BBC BIG BAND
Town Hall
30th Anniversary Concert for BBC Radio 2. Britain's finest big band is joined by singing star Matthew Ford for a night of swing classics.
FRIDAY - 8.30PM - TALKING BROTHERS
The Old Joint Stock Theatre
Brothers need to talk. Unique and stimulating performance poetry.
FRIDAY - 10.00PM - BATTLE FOR PRAGUE
The Flapper
Bleary eyed uplifting baroque rock.
Gold Award For Brum’s Floral Trail
Over the last year you may have seen floral versions of a Mini on Victoria Square, Wallace and Gromit on Great Charles Street Queensway or a watch on New Street.
They are just three of 19 features on the Birmingham City Centre Floral Trail, which has just won Gold in the Urban Community category at the Heart of England In Bloom Regional Awards Ceremony.
The trail is linked to the bicentennial celebrations of the life of Matthew Boulton.
(via JewelleryQuarter.net)
Volunteers Needed for Birmingham Half Marathon
After last year's success, the EDF Energy Birmingham Half Marathon returns for a second time on Sunday 11th October. Following feedback from last year, the route has changed so it now starts and ends in Birmingham city centre, at Centenary Square. The 13.1 mile run takes in well-known sights such as Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Cannon Hill Park and the Cadbury factory in Bournville village before returning to the city.
Volunteers are required in areas such as baggage supervision, event control, information assistants, media assistants, route marshals and even translators. For more information check out the Birmingham Half Marathon website or call 0121 464 0193.
Volunteering at Moseley Folk Festival
On Friday I had the pleasure of working on the Oxfam stall at the fourth Moseley Folk Festival at the beautiful Moseley Park. After a long day promoting the work of Oxfam and the Oxjam Music Festival, obtaining petition signatures and selling raffle tickets for a signed t-shirt, I got to enjoy some of the festival.
The highlight for me was the headliners Saint Etienne, who performed the whole of Fox Base Alpha before encoring with He's On The Phone. I also popped into the Real Ale tent for a couple of pints of Mad Goose. There's a very special atmosphere at Moseley Folk Festival helped by the limited capacity and family-friendly environment that some of the bigger festivals could learn from. The organisers did a fantastic job and by all accounts the rest of the weekend has gone well too. Good job all round!
EDL March To Go Ahead
The "anti Islamic extremism" protest from the English Defence League will go ahead as planned on Saturday on our city's streets, despite calls from Deputy Leader, Lib Dem Councillor Paul Tilsley to ban it. But plans for a "Birmingham United" concert backed by John Hemming MP amongst others have been cancelled after a lack of support from the Police and City Council.
Exact plans for the EDL march are unclear, although Police have been successful in restricting gatherings in the Bullring shopping area. Suggestions of a protest march around the Broad Street area have been discussed, as has a march to Lancaster Circus. What we do know is the EDL are bussing in people from all across the country.
Let's remind ourselves of the events of 8th August again. It concerns me that although families and children shopping in the Bullring will be protected from a potential repeat performance, the significant number of residents of the Broad Street area will not be.
Throw into the mix the England match means the Broad Street bars are likely to be packed - and all I can see is potential trouble.
See my previous post for why I think this protest should be banned.
Car Clamping in Birmingham
The battle against rogue car clampers in Birmingham took a step forward last week.
Four men were arrested following a fraud investigation into Car Clamping Securities (CCS) by the city's Trading Standards and West Midlands Police.
Trading standards had received over 56 complaints from residents, mainly that their cars had been towed away despite them paying to park. A tow truck owned by the firm was also seized in the operation, from Eyre Street in Ladywood.
Earlier this year the Liberal Democrats called for an end to clamping on private land and launched the website Ban Rogue Clampers.
Lib Dem Councillor Creates the Usain Bolti!
To celebrate Usain Bolt's record-breaking run and the announcement that Jamaica's Olympic team will train in the city, a Birmingham Lib Dem Councillor has created a very special curry.
Councillor Tanveer Choudrey of Punjab Paradise in Sparkbrook has created a green and yellow themed balti in Usain's honour - the Usain Bolti.
Helpers in the Sparkbrook by-election may be tempted, but as one Sunday Mercury reporter found out, the Usain Bolti contains an extremely strong pepper...
Ladywood Walks – Edgbaston Reservoir
Last month I said I would start posting up some interesting walks around Ladywood.
This weekend I went for a morning stroll around the nearby Edgbaston Reservoir. Built in 1827, the 70 acre site is a popular spot for birds, animals, sailing, rowing, jogging and dog-walking. It's a 1.75 mile walk around the water and some of the sights include:
- Perrott's Folly (perfect for Tolkien fans!)
- The Tower Ballroom
- Midland Sailing Club
- Birmingham Rowing Club
- Sea Cadets
- Birmingham Buddhist Vihara
You can start the walk from the Tower Ballroom car park by Reservoir Road (near Osler Street for the Buddhist Vihara), or on Gillott Road (near Selwyn Road) where there is a walkway down to the Reservoir.
Enjoy!
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