The Electric in October
If you've never been to the Electric Cinema before you are missing a real gem, right in the heart of Birmingham city centre. The Electric is the UK's oldest working cinema (opened in 1909) and now boasts two screens, one of which has sofa seating and waiter service!
I enjoyed the latest Harry Potter film there a few months ago from one of the comfy sofas - accompanied by a gorgeous tub of Just Rachel's Butterscotch and Orange Liqueur ice cream - and I can heartily recommend it!
The October/November programme contains the usual mix of hits such as District 9 and quirkier smaller films. There's also a strong line-up of stand-up as part of the Birmingham Comedy Festival. Some interesting looking films include:
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which tells the tale of a travelling show where audience members are asked to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom
Morris: A Life with Bells On, a comedy about an avant-garde Morris Dancer, Derecq Twist, and his fight to modernise Morris Dancing. Watch the trailer!
Enjoy!
ArtsFest 2009 – Sunday in the Jewellery Quarter
As on Saturday, the Jewellery Quarter throws open its doors with open days at Key Hill Cemetery, the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, St. Paul's Church, St. Paul's Gallery, the Pen Room and the RBSA. In addition, check out the following...
SUNDAY - 11AM, 12PM, 2PM - GUIDED CEMETRY WALKS
Key Hill Cemetery
Looking at those buried in the cemetery from Birmingham's past including the Bird family, Joseph Chamberlain and Robert Lucas Chance.
SUNDAY - 3.00PM - VOICES OF CITY OF BIRMINGHAM CHOIR
RBSA 2nd Floor Gallery
Mini-Concert
SUNDAY - 3.00PM - THIS BEAUTIFUL THIEF
St. Paul's Gallery
Intelligent indie pop.
ArtsFest 2009 – Sunday in the City Centre
The highlight of Sunday will be sets from Reverend & The Makers, Athlete and Birmingham's own Johnny Foreigner, all live in Centenary Square. Also worth checking out is "The Fear of Queer", a performance exploring homophobia from the Pink Space Theatre Company, ahead of November's SHOUT Festival.
SUNDAY - 2.30PM - BELLY DANCE ELEMENTS
The Flapper
Release the Goddess within. Bellydancing with a Bollywood mix!
SUNDAY - 3.35PM - THE NATIONAL SAXOPHONE CHOIR OF GREAT BRITAIN
Birmingham Conservatoire - Adrian Boult Hall
Sax to the Max. Auditory and visual saxophonic treat.
SUNDAY - 4.00PM - PINK SPACE THEATRE COMPANY
The Library Theatre
The Fear of Queer. An explosive, contemporary, theatrical exploration of homophobia, intolerance and prejudice through a fusion of physical theatre, movement, dance, music, lyrics and performance poetry.
SUNDAY - 4.30PM - RAINBOW VOICES
The Flapper
Birmingham's LBGT Community Choir.
SUNDAY - 5.50PM - JOHNNY FOREIGNER
Centenary Square Stage
Birmingham's own indie heroes.
SUNDAY - 8.45PM - REVEREND & THE MAKERS
Centenary Square Stage
Indie / funk / electro from Sheffield's finest.
SUNDAY - 9.45PM - ATHLETE
Centenary Square Stage
Award-winning indie-rock.
ArtsFest 2009 – Saturday in the Jewellery Quarter
ArtsFest continues its weekend in the Jewellery Quarter, combining with Heritage Open Day Weekend events. The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is open for tours, you can see work from Birmingham's contemporary artists at the RBSA Open Exhibition, visit The Pen Room, or have a wander around St Paul's Church and enjoy a BBQ!. Plus don't miss the latest work from Stan's Cafe at the A.E. Harris factory - "Giant Steps".
SATURDAY - 11.00AM - GUIDED CEMETERY WALK
Key Hill Cemetery
Looking at those buried in the cemetery from Birmingham's past including the Bird family, Joseph Chamberlain and Robert Lucas Chance.
SATURDAY - 1.00PM - MDCC THEATRE COMPANY
Key Hill Cemetery
The Hamlet Globetrotters. Comedy sketches based on Shakespeare.
SATURDAY - 2.15PM - SOMEONE-AT-THE-DOOR SAMBA BAND
St. Paul's Church
Brazilian-style Samba music.
SATURDAY - 4.00PM - THE LIGHTS
St. Paul's Gallery
Indie pop: imagine Elvis Costello writing for ELO fronted by James Dean Bradfield's younger siblings!
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.
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!
Get Ready to SHOUT!
I've just heard today that the inaugral SHOUT Festival has been awarded a grant from Sport England through their Small Grants programme. This adds to the grant already received from the Arts Council.
SHOUT is the first of its kind in Birmingham, a cultural festival celebrating and showcasing the growing, vibrant LGBT community. The first festival, to be held during November 2009, features visual arts, performance arts, sports and community events. I was invited by the organisers, the Birmingham LGBT Community Trust, to head up the sports strand following my previous experience in founding and developing Birmingham Blaze FC.
The Sport England grant will enable us to showcase the various opportunities available for LGBT people to get involved with sport, with the ultimate aim of increasing participation within the LGBT community. Birmingham Blaze FC, Moseley Shoals swimming group, Moseley ladies rugby club and a badminton group are all signed up and will offer taster sessions throughout November. The showpiece of the month will be our "Urban Sports Day" to be held on Hurst Street itself, proving there is life beyond the bars and clubs.
There'll be loads more information coming soon, watch this space!
In the meantime, you can join the Facebook group or mailing list, or follow the festival on Twitter.
Academy Launch Weekend Line Up Complete
Local act The Streets has been added to the bill for the launch weekend of the new Birmingham Academy venue in September. Mike Skinner joins Editors, The Twang and Ocean Colour Scene to celebrate the launch of the new venue over the course of four days.
The Academy is upping sticks from its Priory Square location to make way for major redevelopment. The old Dome II nightclub on Horsefair (Bristol Street) will become the Birmingham O2 Academy following a major £5m refurbishment.
The main room has increased in size to 3,000 which should mean higher calibre acts can play the city more regularly. And as at the current site, the venue will also contain smaller rooms of 600 and 250 capacities.
The full line-up is:
Thurs 10 Sept - EDITORS
Fri 11 Sept - THE TWANG
Sat 12 Sept - THE STREETS
Sun 13 Sept - OCEAN COLOUR SCENE
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