Brumful of weekender fun

Two years ago in September 2015 Birmingham saw a weekend of celebrations with a Birmingham Weekender, https://birminghamcentral.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/september-shout-out-for-birmingham.html, following the success of 4 Squares Weekender in 2013.

The photos below show the Weekender of 2015 which, coupled with the opening of New Street Station on 20th September 2015, created an amazing atmosphere.

This weekend sees the return of the Birmingham Weekender with highlights including a giant metal elephant, Victoria Square filled with different dances and a drumming and firework spectacular in Eastside.


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The full programme can be viewed at: http://www.birminghamweekender.com/media/2406/birmingham-weekender-brochure-optimized.pdf

Highlights include:

* Working with the team behind Moseley Folk Festival, Victoria Square will transform into a three-day participatory dance experience, called Square Dance. 

* Hour by hour experience disco to folk, bhangra to Northern Soul as well as striking kathakali dancers visiting especially for Weekender from Kerala (India). Along with headline DJs, Square Dance offers a chance for anyone to get up and dance and includes mass dance lessons! Alongside some of the region’s best street food vendors, Square Dance is a central hub for the whole Weekender, a place to eat, drink and dance together in the heart of the city. 

 * Birmingham Hippodrome will present Clash of the Drums, created by Les Commandos Percu (France) and Deabru Beltzak (Spain) on Sat 23 September. A spectacular outdoor evening of drumming and pyrotechnics, drummers appear out of nowhere and march towards each other from street to street before coming together with a clash of drums. Light and fire fill the skies in an explosion of sound. 

* Rangeeli – Colours of Birmingham, a parade featuring the amazing Harminder, a magnificent Indian elephant made of metal, reclaimed bicycle parts and other recycled materials. Co–designed with the citizens of Birmingham, the Rangeeli – Colours of Birmingham parade will explore, celebrate and share the heritage of the city with a South Asian twist, marking Utsav, Birmingham’s Year of South Asian Culture. The parade will climax in a crescendo of sound from dhol and Brazilian beats as well as an explosion of spectacular dances from kathakali to kathak, Bollywood, bhangra and bharatanatyam alongside the energy of African and contemporary artists. Look out also for Patang, colourful kites inspired by the sub-continent. 

* On Sun 24 September the Bull Ring Retail Markets will be transformed into an Alternative Village Fete. This one-off Sunday opening will see the market traders setting up stall alongside interactive performances, installations and quirky stalls, embracing the best bits of a traditional village fete with an alternative Brummie twist. Expect games, folk culture, craft, home cooking, tea and cake, vintage, and more. 

* Birmingham Contemporary Music Group will perform a new piece of music created especially for Birmingham’s canals on narrow boats near the Sea Life Centre. Leading composers Richard Baker (UK), Ondrej Adamek (Prague) and Yannis Kyriakides (Cyprus) will collaborate to create one new piece, Serenade on the Canals. 

* The Big Idea 17 a major new co-commission from International Dance Festival Birmingham and Birmingham Weekender, will be produced by DanceXchange, who are currently taking submissions from dance artists working in the Midlands. Plus ballet fans can also see pop-up performances from Birmingham Royal Ballet who will perform an extract of the Nutcracker in the Bullring shopping centre, bringing shoppers to a standstill as they are swept away into a winter wonderland of dancing snowflakes and a Sugar Plum Fairy. 

http://visitbirmingham.com/what-to-do/festivals-events/special-dates-occasions/birmingham-weekender-2017/

Away from the Weekender there is a floating market at Brindleyplace by the Arena Birmingham, formerly the Barclaycard Arena and NIA.  10 roving canal traders will moor their narrowboats both sides of the Main Line Canal selling handcrafted gifts, sweets clothes, bags and jewellery.

The first floating market was in 2013 and its success led to regular ones around the UK.  The floating market returns again to compliment the Birmingham Weekender.