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Fifteen years celebrated with one great festival!
I’m sure you’ll all agree that the weekend of the 7th to the 9th September was certainly one that won’t be forgotten in a hurry. The City Centre really came alive, as we welcomed a wide range of talented and unique performers and artists to Birmingham. We hope that you all had the opportunity to fit in as much as possible over the hectic weekend. We hope you had a brilliant weekend and we would like to say thank you for getting involved with this year’s ArtsFest and helping make it as exciting as ever.
There’s no denying that the quality of our performers this year was fantastic. There were many of our venues that were full and all of our performers received a warm welcome from their audiences. It is therefore fitting that we say a massive thank you to our incredible performers. Dancers, singers, musicians, actors, comedians and artists really went above and beyond and there is no way the festival could have happened without them. We are very happy with the diversity that ArtsFest had to offer this year and we tried to ensure that there was something to suit all tastes.
We once again had a fabulous group of volunteers, who were more than willing to help and made the weekend a whole lot easier. They were a great help to the whole ArtsFest team and they certainly deserve a pat on the back for their contribution to this year’s festival.
The ArtsFest weekend ran very smoothly and the whole team was pleased with the end result. Now ArtsFest is over for another year, we feel slightly deflated but pleased that everything went to plan and now we can look forward to yet more exciting events. More than anything we wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped with ArtsFest this year. No matter how small your job, you really did make a difference and we are happy you got to be a part of it. I’m sure you’ll be back for more next year and we look forward to seeing you all again soon!
Family Friendly Activities
We have a whole range of Family Friendly Activities taking place at ArtsFest 2012. A PDF document of all of these events is available to download at the bottom left hand side of the homepage and the full list is also below. These activities are subject to change so please check at one of our Information Points in Centenary Square or Victoria Square during the festival for an up to date programme.
Friday 7th September 2012
Mandala
Chamberlain Square (18.30 – 22.00)
Mandala is a dazzling free outdoor performance fusing International and British Asian music and dance with spectacular 3D digital projections. Town Hall will be magically illuminated with colour and light to tell a story that connects the past and the present. The building will be brought to life with stunning digital projections and visual effects triggered by the live dance, music and audience interaction.
18.30 – Red Baraat (A live set by the dhol ’n’ brass band)
20.30 – Performance of Mandala
21.30 – Repeat performance of Mandala
Saturday 8th September 2012
The Playmakers
mac (All day)
Japanese artists KOSUGE1-16 have worked with local children to create a playful installation in the gallery at mac Birmingham for their first ever UK exhibition. An interactive experience for all the family featuring giant puppets, squishy swans and a slide!
Musical Picnic
Symphony Hall Foyer (10.30 – 13.00)
A morning of musical entertainment for all the family.
The Rootless Forest
Brindleyplace (11.00 – 13.00)
Visit the Rootless Forest and walk with it from Brindleyplace to Edible Eastside. This is a mobile artwork, a mini-forest made of real tress and soil, planted on a barge that travels at walking pace along the Birmingham and Black Country Canals. It is a landscape and soundscape piece.
The Mobile Arts Vehicle
Chamberlain Square (11.00 – 18.00)
Birmingham City Council Culture Commissioning Service and Birmingham’s Local Art Forums help you to explore the culture on your doorstep!
Free Radio
Chamberlain Square (11.00 – 18.00)
Come and meet Free Radio’s very own HumFree the hamster for fun, games and much more.
The pARTicipate Village
Chamberlain Square / Victoria Square / Upper New Street (11.00 – 18.00)
Heart of England Galleries – Discover more about the galleries and have your photo taken in The Public’s Photo Studio.
Library of Birmingham – Book a tour of the new Library of Birmingham, take a ‘virtual’ tour and play online games.
Matt & Pete’s Photo School – Experience ArtsFest and Birmingham through new eyes with this inspirational photo walk.
Brahma Kumaris – Art of Peace: creating you vision of a peaceful world.
Full Potential Arts – Our City: Create artistic Birmingham images.
Midlands Potters Association – Being creative in clay.
Sara’s Parlour – Create your own face paint design with Sara.
The REP – Get stuck into creating, making and maybe even getting a little messy in celebration of the REP’s Christmas production of The Wind In The Willows.
Writing West Midlands – Supporting creative writing and writers in the region.
Ping! Birmingham
Centenary Square (11.00 – 18.00)
Fancy a game of Ping!? Then head over to one of the tables in Centenary Square.
The Outdoor Learning Service Climbing Wall
Centenary Square (11.00 – 18.00)
Are you brave enough to scale the wall in this adventurous challenge?
Arts In The Yard
mac (Buses from 11.30 – 16.30)_
_Do you live in Acocks Green, Sheldon, Stechford or Yardley?
Join us on board Arts In The Yard’s magical musical Bus Tour to visit three exciting venues and take part in fabulous arts activities at each stop. Calling at South Yardley Library, mac Birmingham and Blakesley Hall throughout the day there will also be music making activities on board! Explore your local neighbourhood and enjoy all that ArtsFest and Heritage Open Day has to offer. More info at www.macarts.co.uk
Saheli
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (11.30 – 12.00)
A dance based aerobic taster session to music.
Warwickshire Young Voices
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery – Round Room (11.30 – 12.00)
Fresh and inspirational youth singing for all.
Dance Fit Base
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (12.30 – 13.00)
Dance fitness fun for everyone!
Toni’s Tots Drama
mac – The Performance Studio (12.30 – 13.30)
Drama and storytelling workshops for toddlers.
The REP
The Council House – HMS Daring Room (13.00 – 13.30)
Enchanting stories from the REP’s forthcoming Christmas production of The Wind in the Willows.
Creative Workshops
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (13.00 – 16.00)
Join an artist led session in the Learning Zone. Whatever you make, you can take away!
BSEF
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (13.30 – 14.00)
An interactive basketball technique and skills workshop.
Ikon Gallery Workshops
Oozells Square (14.00 – 16.00)
A range of family friendly drop-in workshops where you can join Ikon Gallery to make and sail your own paper boats. Children should be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Bhangra Tots
The Council House – Room 1 (14.00 – 15.00)
Interactive dance and story for children and their parents/carers.
The Arcadians
mac – The Performance Studio (14.00 – 15.00)
Family ‘Wizard of Oz’ workshop.
Zumba Central
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (14.30 – 15.00)
Sweat the Alphabet and Dance the Digits with Bokwa.
Birmingham Stage Company: Terrible Tudors
Central Library – Centre For The Child (14.30 – 15.30)
A Horrible Histories workshop from the world of the Terrible Tudors! (6+)
The REP
Birmingham Conservatoire – Arena Foyer (15.00 – 15.30)
Enchanting stories from the REP’s forthcoming Christmas production of The Wind in the Willows.
Highly Sprung Performance Co: Commotion
Birmingham Conservatoire – Recital Hall (15.00 – 15.30)
An interactive science based performance for Under 11s.
Aspire
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (15.30 – 16.00)
A short course designed to test your balance and fitness.
Sing Live UK Ltd
The Council House – Room 1 (15.30 – 16.30)
Find your voice in Sing Live’s Choir! All ages and abilities welcome.
Glorishears of Brummagem
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (16.30 – 17.00)
Fun and fitness through learning a Cotswold Morris dance.
Operamus
Birmingham Conservatoire – Recital Hall (17.00 – 17.30)
Providing Opera for all and opportunities to get involved!
Brahma Kumaris
The Council House – Room 1 (17.00 – 18.00)
Art of Peace: assembling your vision of a peaceful world.
Aston Sport Club
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (17.30 – 18.00)
An interactive multi spots session with games based around football, handball and cricket.
Sunday 9th September 2012
The Rootless Forest
Brindleyplace (11.00 – 13.00)
Visit the Rootless Forest and walk with it from Brindleyplace to Edible Eastside. This is a mobile artwork, a mini-forest made of real tress and soil, planted on a barge that travels at walking pace along the Birmingham and Black Country Canals. It is a landscape and soundscape piece.
The Mobile Arts Vehicle
Chamberlain Square (11.00 – 18.00)
Birmingham City Council Culture Commissioning Service and Birmingham’s Local Art Forums help you to explore the culture on your doorstep!
Free Radio
Chamberlain Square (11.00 – 18.00)
Come and meet Free Radio’s very own HumFree the hamster for fun, games and much more.
The pARTicipate Village
Chamberlain Square / Victoria Square / Upper New Street (11.00 – 18.00)
Heart of England Galleries – Discover more about the galleries and have your photo taken in The Public’s Photo Studio.
Library of Birmingham – Book a tour of the new Library of Birmingham, take a ‘virtual’ tour and play online games.
Matt & Pete’s Photo School – Experience ArtsFest and Birmingham through new eyes with this inspirational photo walk.
Midlands Potters Association – Being creative in clay.
Sara’s Parlour – Create your own face paint design with Sara.
Writing West Midlands – Supporting creative writing and writers in the region.
Ping! Birmingham
Centenary Square (11.00 – 18.00)
Fancy a game of Ping!? Then head over to one of the tables in Centenary Square.
The Outdoor Learning Service Climbing Wall
Centenary Square (11.00 – 18.00)
Are you brave enough to scale the wall in this adventurous challenge?
Writing West Midlands Book Fair
The Council House – Rooms 3 and 4 (11.00 – 18.00)
Birmingham Independent Bookfair – browse, buy and discover new books, many of which are not available on the high street. This day-long event will feature independent publishers from the West Midlands and beyond, offering you the chance to buy books directly from the publishers, who will be on hand to answer questions and introduce you to new writing. From poetry pamphlets to prose fiction, graphic novels to science fiction and fantasy, a wide range of forms and genres will be represented. This is a project of The West Midlands Independent Publisher Network which is convened by Writing West Midlands.
The Blue Orange Theatre
The Council House – Room 1 (11.00 – 12.00)
Drama taster workshop for 8 – 16 years.
Saheli
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (11.30 – 12.00)
Cycling workshop delivered by qualified instructors to increase your cycling confidence skills.
Elizabeth Stafford
Birmingham Conservatoire – Recital Hall (12.00 – 13.00)
‘Instant Choir’ – workshop for singers of all ages and abilities.
Born2Sing
The CBSO Centre (12.30 – 13.00)
Offering professional singing lessons to all ages and styles.
ABS Latin Promotions
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (12.30 – 13.00)
The pioneers of Latin salsa!
Creative Workshops
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (13.00 – 16.00)
Join an artist led session in the Learning Zone. Whatever you make, you can take away!
Stage2 Youth Theatre
Birmingham Conservatoire – Recital Hall (13.30 – 14.30)
Learn drama skills with some of Stage2’s current members.
Hurricanes Basketball Club
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (13.30 – 14.00)
A chance to brush up on your dribbling, shooting and many more basketball tricks.
Ikon Gallery Workshops
Oozells Square (14.00 – 16.00)
A range of family friendly drop-in workshops where you can join Ikon Gallery to make and sail your own paper boats. Children should be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Touching Sounds
The Council House – Room 1 (14.00 – 15.00)
Khoros Workshops – An interactive musical instrument for everyone!
DanceXchange
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (14.30 – 15.00)
DanceXchange (dx) is a dance house dedicated to creating exciting opportunities for people of all walks of life to experience dance as participants, performers and audience members.
Cordao De Ouro Birmingham
Birmingham Conservatoire – Recital Hall (15.00 – 16.00)
Introduction to Capoeira. Try your hand at Brazilian martial arts and music.
Sport for Life
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (15.30 – 16.00)
A cricket workshop offering the opportunity to play the team sport and practice your techniques.
Stage2 Youth Theatre
The Council House – Room 1 (15.30 – 16.30)
Learn drama skills with some of Stage2’s current members.
Love Fitness
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (16.30 – 17.00)
Try out the new craze for Kangoo Jumps in the ‘Love at First Bounce’ workshop.
Pigeon Park Press
The Council House – Room 1 (17.00 – 18.00)
Kick start the creative writing process with these fun writing games.
WEA
The ‘Be Active’ Zone (17.30 – 18.00)
Zumba workshop offering a danced based aerobic taster session to music.
ArtsFest is nearly upon us!
We can hardly believe that after several months of sifting through applications, liaising with artists, allocating venue officers and finding the perfect slot for our artists, the big weekend is less than a week away. It’s a strange and surreal feeling to know that everyone’s hard work will come to fruition very soon. We are all so excited to encounter first-hand the amazing talent Birmingham has to offer.
From Mandala and the Paralympics closing ceremony, to the fireworks and everything else in between, ArtsFest certainly promises to be as memorable as ever. We’ve packed everything into one long weekend in the hope that you’ll have the opportunity to experience just about everything we have on offer for you.
We have some fantastic highlights include; the Writing West Midlands book fair, the screening of the Last Night of the Proms, Art on the Railings and a range of Arts Market and Ask It! Stalls. That’s not all! Throughout the next few days in the build up to ArtsFest, we’ll be keeping your finger on the pulse and ensuring you know what’s happening before it’s even happened.
We can guarantee that the artists have been working hard; they’ve been warming up their voices, tuning their instruments and perfecting their routines, all with the intention of making this year’s ArtsFest bigger and better than any before. Volunteers and staff alike are ready and fully prepared for this fabulous weekend. So all that’s left to do now is to wait for the fun to begin!!!
BBC WM Introducing @ ArtsFest
We are delighted to announce that for ArtsFest 2012, BBC WM Introducing will be taking over Centenary Square on Sunday 9th September. Featuring 11 artists on 2 stages, you can see a whole host of talent from 5.00pm – 10.30pm. The full line up is listed below:
5.00pm – 5.25pm
Poppy and the Jezebels
5.30pm – 5.55pm
River City Portrait
6.00pm – 6.25pm
Tempting Rosie
6.30pm – 6.55pm
Mezzotonic
7.00pm – 7.25pm
D’Votion
7.30pm – 7.55pm
The Grey Goose Blues Band
8.00pm – 8.25pm
Genius Collective
8.30pm – 8.55pm
Sam Redmore
9.00pm – 9.25pm
The Carpels
9.30pm – 9.55pm
Young Runaways
10.00pm – 10.30pm
The Musgraves
We are really excited to have some of the best artists from around the Midlands taking part in ArtsFest 2012 and a whole variety of genres and styles of music are represented with the acts listed above. We hope to have a great turn out to support the up and coming talent of the Midlands through this BBC WM Introducing Showcase.
More information on all of these artists will be available when the downloadable programme is available on the website. This will be uploaded on Tuesday 28th August. Alternatively, you can use any search engine to listen to the music that they have to offer.
Seen us around?
3 weeks to go!!
Now the Olympics are over we’re getting very excited for ArtsFest 2012. It’s all coming together and looking like a real festival now!
The programme is at the printers and we are currently uploading it to the website.
Have you seen our posters and boards around town? Let us know what you think of them!
Keep an eye out over the next week for all our updates and news.
If you want to get in touch with us with any comments/queries/suggestions feel free to get in touch with us at artsfest@birmingham.gov.uk or on 0121 464 5678. We love hearing from you all!
The programme is coming together!
Hi all,
Just a quick post to keep you up to date with how the programming for this year’s festival is going. We are still in the process of offering both performing arts and visual arts slots and confirming the ArtsFest 2012 programme. We hope to have the festival programme on the website toward the start of August and to have the printed programme available before the end of August. There’s still lots to do but the festival is looking great already. Every week in the lead up to ArtsFest 2012 we will be revealing more festival highlights, so keep an eye on the website!
Tom
8 weeks to go!
ArtsFest is only 8 weeks away!! We are all very excited and busy, making sure this will be the most memorable ArtsFest yet. As part of the ArtsFest weekend, we have several highlights to prepare for and we thought we’d give you a taster of what to expect.
Mandala
On the 7th September, South Asia and Britain come together in spectacular style as Mandala arrives in Birmingham. Sampad is pioneering this fantastic new project which will begin, on the Friday night, with a live music band. The event is being jointly organised by the well-established South Asian development agency Sampad and the leading arts and technology company, Seeper and we are delighted to have it as the opening of ArtsFest 2012.
Chamberlain Square will come alive with an exciting explosion of music, dance and breathtaking live interactions. 3D projections will feature heavily in the performance, as Birmingham’s Town Hall will be used to project the colourful and original performances.
The entertainment of the night will be a celebration of British Asian dance and music. There are already a vast amount of artists that have been confirmed for the event including; Zakir Hussain, Talvin Singh, Anoushka Shankar, Devika Rao and Aakash Odedra. With all of this, what could be more fantastic than finding out that the whole event is completely free of charge? As Mandala is free and in the great outdoors, it’s the perfect way to round off a hopefully brilliant British summer and begins ArtsFest 2012.
Community Vibe
Community Vibe is a Birmingham based Theatre and Training Company who will be spending the ArtsFest weekend performing, showcasing, exhibiting and educating the general public on local based issues. The company, which was established in 2006, has gone from strength to strength as they work with many people across the West Midlands borough. The highly creative team delivers a fantastic programme of events, which aims to develop creativity, raise awareness on important issues, train individuals in their desired area of interest and build confidence and self-esteem along the way.
We are thrilled to confirm that Community Vibe will be bringing their unending energy and passion to ArtsFest this September, as they will be hosting ‘Poetry City’ and representing the incredible amount of creative talent Birmingham has to offer. This is a terrific opportunity for you to become exposed to the amazingly diverse poetic originality and imaginative flair our region possesses.
‘Be Active’ @ ArtsFest
This year, ArtsFest are delighted to announce that we will once again be making use of the outdoor space in Centenary Square. The ‘Be Active’ Zone will incorporate the themes of various Council programmes during ArtsFest; so you are still guaranteed an
exciting fusion of dance, music and art. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a summery September so you can enjoy the splendid activities that we have in store. All of the activities in The ‘Be Active’ Zone give you the opportunity to get involved and they’re all great fun, no matter where your interests lie. If you’re a budding dancer or a wannabe musician, there’s plenty for you to discover in this zone. Alternatively, if you just want to have a bit of uninhibited fun then this is also your go-to destination.
We look forward to seeing you all very soon!
Event after event after event...
We are only seven days into June and it’s all hands on deck for our biggest and best ArtsFest in September. This past weekend has seen a phenomenal amount of celebrations, as the community was brought together to celebrate the Queen’s sixty year reign. Street parties, Jubilee lunches, 1950s themed parties and the celebrated Birmingham Pride all shaped a fantastic weekend. And while the weekend was incredibly hectic it was also extremely exciting as young and old came together to toast this special occasion. After a long and enjoyment filled weekend, it is however back to work for much of the country and time for us to start looking forward to our next event. A major event for the West Midlands will see the Olympic Torch passing through the county on the 30th June.
The ArtsFest team are now in the final stages of programming, before artists will start to be confirmed for performance slots at our wide variety of venues. We can definitely promise you that there will be many diverse, interesting and talented acts taking part in this year’s festival so be sure to keep your eyes and ears peeled for more information on when and where to catch them. The ArtsFest Weekend is always a hectic yet thrilling couple of days and if the idea of working alongside a dynamic team and meeting many new people appeals to you, then why not apply to be one of our volunteers? We’re on the lookout for individuals who are not afraid of hard work and are looking to gain experience of working in events. There’ll be many exciting jobs for you to help with and you certainly won’t be bored. The deadline for all volunteer applications is the 13th July and you can find an application form on our website. We look forward to hearing form you!
You may have also noticed that this is my very first blog as I am one of the new interns. Sarah, Gemma and I started this week and we are enjoying being a part of the team and being of assistance during this busy period. As the days go by the work builds up but so far it’s been great.
As always, if you have any comments/queries/suggestions feel free to get in touch with us at artsfest@birmingham.gov.uk or on 0121 464 5678. We’d love to hear from you.
We've been off the radar!
Long time no post!
Apologies for being off the radar for quite a while but as I’m sure you can imagine, 2012 is a manic year for us. Whilst I am currently away working at the World BMX Championships, Pam is gearing up for Fostering Fiesta and Birmingham Pride, whilst Lisa is busy organising Birmingham’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It doesn’t stop there, with a huge array of events throughout the rest of the year, including the AVIVA Athletics Trials, the Olympic Torch Relay, Armed Forces Day, Diamond League and Birmingham Eid Mela just some of the events taking place before ArtsFest on the 8th and 9th September. You can visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/events for news on a range of our upcoming events.
Anyway, back to ArtsFest. The deadline for applications for 2012 passed around three weeks ago and I have been busy looking at a wide range of supporting evidence that was sent in with the applications. Just to give you an idea of the timeframes that we are trying to work to, performance slots will start to be offered to bands and artists from the second week of June. All slots will be offered on the basis of strong supporting material and the suitability to each venue. This process usually takes around three or four weeks, so we will hopefully have a confirmed programme by the second week of July. This will then gradually be posted on the website before our printed programme is produced toward the end of August. All I will ask is that you are patient with us, as I am sure you can imagine, confirming around 500 performance slots does take time.
Visual Arts applications are a little different, as they are managed by one of our Strand Co-ordinators. All of the relevant information has been passed onto them, so the confirmation process will begin shortly.
In other news, we have successfully recruited three interns, who will be a great help to us throughout the remaining stages of ArtsFest planning. They start on the 1st June, so you may well be hearing from Sarah, Gemma or Chloe in the future.
As ever if you’ve got any questions or queries, feel free to email us at artsfest@birmingham.gov.uk or give us a call on 0121 464 5678.
More news, as ever, when we have it!
A little bit more about ArtsFest 2012
The application process for ArtsFest 2012 has now been open for just under a week and already nearly 200 people have started to fill in an application for the festival.
Please make sure you read the ‘Venue and Stage Guide’ at the bottom of the homepage before selecting your venues. This will help you to choose a venue that will most suit the performance or display that you wish to put on. Other than what is listed, there is no other equipment available at each venue. You are more than welcome to bring your own equipment, however it must suit the venue.
This year there will be no stage in Centenary Square. The Chamberlain Square Stage will be our main outdoor venue. We will once again have our Dance Marquee in Victoria Square, as well as a Bandstand. The Broad Street Stage will be based under the porch of The House Of Sport and The Be Active Zone will once again showcase a variety of participatory art forms in Centenary Square.
We are extremely lucky to have a wide range of indoor venues for ArtsFest 2012, ranging from pubs to cafe’s and concert halls to historic buildings. These all offer great performance spaces and may well best suit your performance.
mac Birmingham once again offers a great range of performance spaces on the Saturday of the festival and performing at our sister site will allow you to experience just how much mac has to offer.
There is also the opportunity for you to facilitate a workshop, be it performance based or an arts and craft workshop. These can take place both indoors and outdoors. If you are a visual artist, you can also apply to display your work in a venue of your choice or sell it at The Arts Market or Art On The Railings.
Highlights of ArtsFest 2012 include Mandala, taking place on the evening of Friday 7th September. As part of the Cultural Olympiad, this event will see Town Hall illumiated with 3D images, whilst performers fill Chamberlain Square. The event is hosted by Sampad and descrbed as ‘A bold fusion of South Asian dance, music and groundbreaking 3D projection.’
This year will also see the screening of ‘Last Night Of The Proms’ in Centenary Square. This will take place on Saturday 8th September and will end with a fireworks display. The closing ceremony of the Paralympics will also be screened on the Sunday evening on the Big Screen in Victoria Square.
ArtsFest 2012 is also fortunate to be part of the Bandstand Marathon, which sees over 500 events taking place in bandstands across the country at the same time. Another part of the Cultural Olympiad, our bandstand will have live performances for both days of the festival.
As you can see, we have loads planned for ArtsFest 2012, so don’t delay and get your application filled in as soon as possible. You only have until 10.00am on Monday 23rd April to apply! If you have any questions about applying, feel free to email us at artsfest@birmingham.gov.uk or give us a ring on 0121 464 5678.
