FESTIVALS in Birmingham you should visit in 2016

Whether it’s dance, music or art that floats your boat there’s certainly more festivals to choose from than our poor wallets can cope with. If spending a day travelling and then sleeping in a muddy field isn’t your idea of heaven – then check out these gems taking place right on your doorstep this year.

COMA’S CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FOR ALL FESTIVAL
5-6 March
University of Wolverhampton, Walsall Campus, CBSO Centre, Birmingham
Weekend ticket: £15 full price / £10 concession
Fancy something a little more participative? Well this is the festival for you. A celebration of COMA’s innovative open-score project – this festival features contemporary music with a participative approach. Join musicians from Birmingham’s Contemporary Music Group, the CoMA East Midlands and CoMA West Midlands ensembles, and contemporary choir Via Nova to rehearse, workshop and perform pieces by composers with strong CoMA associations.
Anyone aged 18+ is invited to play or sing – all participants must be able to confidently read music; experience in a choir or band/orchestra is desirable but certainly not essential to join in the fun.

WHISKEY FESTIVAL
12 March, 12-5pm
The Bond, Digbeth
Tickets: £35 general admission & £75 VIP admission
Now in its fourth year – expect hundreds of whiskeys to choose from for your sampling pleasure – please pace yourself (responsible drinking of course). The organisers promise the most ‘creative masterclasses at any festival’, street food and lots of entertainment to shake your whiskey filled glass in the air along to.
Birmingham Whisky Club members can also score VIP tickets for £31.50 (plus booking), so if you’re partial to a dram or two it might be worth investing in a year long membership.

INSOMNIA 57 – GAMING FESTIVAL
25-28 March
NEC, Birmingham
Tickets: Day visitor £27, Weekend Visitor: £57, Bring Your Own Console (BYOC): £99
Obsessed with Call of Duty, giddy about Battlefront or spend your work breaks searching Youtube for gaming hints and tips to bust out out when you get home? Well you better pencil this date in your diary. As the UK’s biggest gaming festival it features a hitlist of special guests plus LAN gaming areas, Q&A sessions, esports tournaments and an exhibition hall to spend all your hard earned cash.
With a BYOC ticket you’ll be granted access to the event for the whole weekend, 24 hours a day; with a guaranteed seat in the LAN halls to plug your gaming device into, plus access to all other areas of the event.

FLATPACK FILM FESTIVAL
19-24 April
Various venues, Birmingham
Pictured top> A real highlight in the festival calendar (pictured) and this year marks its tenth anniversary. Having carved itself a respected place in the UK’s film scene over the last decade you’ll see an eclectic lineup of new features and shorts, with a sprinkling of special guests. There’s also an array of installations, walking tours and pop-up screenings o’plenty taking place throughout the city.

BIRMINGHAM COMIC FESTIVAL
23 April
Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham
Tickets: £10 standard entry ticket
A brand new event with over 100 exhibitors showcasing a range of publications, books, original art and of course – convention exclusives. There’ll be panels, cosplay and rare appearances from creators of DC, Marvel, 200AD and Beano.. A great excuse to order a costume from amazon, dust off your workwear and take on the persona of your favourite superhero for the day.

INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL (IDFB)
1-22 May
Birmingham
Tickets: various £££ depending on venue, also free performances
Produced by DanceXchange and Birmingham Hippodrome IFDB is a major biennial festival that will provide a rare opportunity to watch world-class performances: from ballet to neoclassical, contemporary to physical theatre, hip hop to flamenco and circus all taking place in theatres and public spaces across Birmingham and the West Midlands.
A festival of UK and World exclusives, one being the world premiere of The Machine Show (Centenary Square, 11-14 May) a brand new dance and circus spectacular, with dancer and choreographer Melanie Lomoff (France) and hip-hop dance icon Salah (France), headlined with live music by the French band Rinôçérôse.

SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL
29 May
NEC, Birmingham
Tickets: General admission £46.20, including afterparty £51.70
Another festival celebrating its tenth birthday in 2016 and this year promises to be its biggest yet. With over 50 artists across 7 stages including: Panic at the Disco, New Found Glory and Four Year Strong, the organisers have this year incorporated the Genting Arena, Forum Live, Pavilions 1 & 2, plus outdoor stages.
Guest DJ’s, exclusive singings from your favourite acts, and what will promise to be a memorable afterparty.

BIRMINGHAM BEER BASH
21-23 July
Bond Co. Digbeth, Birmingham
If like us you enjoy a craft beer or two then you’ll raise your glass in appreciation of this festival. This year sees the introduction of the first Birmingham Beer Week with the Beer Bash as the pinnacle of the event. Interestingly the focus has shifted to keg beers and there’ll be a smaller number of breweries showcased at it’s 2016 event – pushing for quality over quantity. Don’t fret there’ll definitely be a beer there to tickle your tastebuds – with five sessions over three days even the biggest hopheads amongst you will rejoice.
Masterclasses, fringe events and entertainment are all part of the bash, not forgetting a range of street food to ensure you line your stomach!

Words: Kimberley Owen

Birmingham Rep at 100

In February Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company celebrated its 100th birthday. The dramatic century was marked with a gala performance of Philip Pullman’s I Was A Rat! Following is a celebratory programme of exhibitions, activity days, guided backstage tours, an audio history project and a new website REP100.org which will make the company’s remarkable archives available to the public for the first time.

March 2012 Area Culture Guide

It’s here the all new March edition of Area Culture Guide. Once again we’re spoiling you with our digest of great things happening around the West Midlands and you can see it online here and pick up your copy from one of the great outlets that stock it (see the distribution page.

Diesel Island: Land of the Stupid, Home of the Brave

Get yourself down to your local Diesel store or click here because forthcoming Diesel Island looks like it’s gonna be big big news. Launched at the beginning of May, the Diesel School of Island Life will offer lucky ‘passport’ holders the chance to get involved with some amazing things, including events, parties, workshops and trips, and the best part is that they’re all completely free. Actually that’s not even the best part; there’s much more to come.

Mothwasp Screening @ The Studio

Excited to hear that there is a new creative space to add to Birmingham’s already diverse cultural landscape. The Studio, Digbeth is located next door to the wonderful young people’s charity Fairbridge. The charity supports and works with de-motivated young people aged between 13 and 25 providing them with skills and opportunities to change their lives for the better.

Fierce and Flatpack

Various venues throughout Birmingham – 22 – 27 March

March Area Guide

Welcome to the March edition of the Area Culture Guide for the West Midlands packed with loads for you to do during the month.

We Are Eastside

If you’ve heard the term ‘Creative Quarter’ and ‘Eastside’ bandied around and wondered what or where that is then We Are Eastside will help explain. 16 cultural and creative organisations based in the Digbeth area of the city are driving a creative renaissance that is set to launch with a major open weekend between Friday 26 March and Sunday 28 March this year.

Flatpack 2010

Birmingham is getting a great reputation for putting on fab festivals throughout the year and March 2010 is the turn of one of the best FLATPACK. This year the event takes place from 23-28 March and it looks like they are planning some pretty spectacular stuff.

Bringing film to unexpected places and spaces in locations across Birmingham (including warehouse spaces, art galleries, a social club, a specially constructed cardboard cinema and the sites of some of the UK’s first Odeons designed in the 1930s) the festival is promising:

Bus trips to art deco cinemas, the weird world of puppets, immersive art happenings, Murnau rescored, optical illusions, idea theft and creepy 70s television.

Rare screenings and new commissions share the limelight with talks and screenings from a suitably eclectic programme to inspire all.

The full programme will be available at the beginning of February.