Blog posts by Tom Bowkett
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.
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.
Welcome to ArtsFest 2012
Welcome to the first blog post for ArtsFest 2012. First of all thanks for being patient with us while we are updating all of our information for 2012. As I hope you are now aware, ArtsFest 2012 will be going ahead on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th September. There will once again be a host a indoor venues opening their doors to a whole variety of performing artists and a wide range of outdoor spaces will be utilised, from the Chamberlain Square stage to the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral. ArtsFest 2012 is also hoping to showcase a diverse range of visual art in a variety of different ways.
Highlights of this year’s festival will include the screening of Last Night of the Proms on the Saturday evening in Centenary Square, the Bandstand Marathon as part of the Cultural Olympiad and the screening of the Closing Ceremony of the Paralympic Games on Sunday evening in Victoria Square. Another event, supported by ArtsFest, will see Mandala take place on the evening of Friday 7th September. This event is another part of the Cultural Olympiad and will see Town Hall illuminated with 3D projections whilst a range of music and dance performances take place.
This year’s festival team consists of Lisa Kennedy, Pam Renoata and Tom Bowkett, who will be looking after the many key aspects of ArtsFest 2012. Lisa will be in charge of production and infrastructure, Pam will be overseeing marketing, promotion and volunteers and Tom will be looking after programming, venues and artists.
Lots more news will be coming your way in the next few weeks so keep an eye out for more information!
Event Volunteering
Fancy volunteering at some of Birmingham’s biggest sporting events, such as the Sport Relief Mile or the World BMX Championships.
Visit www.birminghamourgames.co.uk for more details on how you could be involved!
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.
Venue and Stage Guide 2012
The Venue and Stage Guide for ArtsFest 2012 has now been uploaded to the website. This is the document that details all of the spaces and venues that will be available for both performing and visual artists during ArtsFest 2012.
If you are thinking of applying for ArtsFest 2012, take a look by downloading the PDF document in the bottom left hand corner of the home page or by clicking on the ‘Venues’ tab and looking through the list of our venues for 2012.
This guide contains lots of information, including audience capacities for each venue, the technical support available at each venue and the times in which the venue will be programmed with ArtsFest events.
Applications will be going live on Tuesday 20th March 2012, so if you are thinking about applying then take a look and see where you may like to perform or display your work.
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!
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
