Birmingham Weekender

This is a past event and is currently no longer running.

Family & Pantomime

FREE

Birmingham Weekender took over Bullring & Grand Central in August 2021 with 100 free events to enjoy.

The cultural festival, funded by Bullring & Grand Central, Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Hippodrome and Arts Council England, combined a mix of dance, music, film, performances and installations across the shopping destination featuring many of the best artists from Birmingham and the West Midlands.

See below for some highlights from across the weekend.

Take a look at the round-up video

Autin Dance Theatre - Out of the Deep Blue

In a dystopian future, waves wash EKO, a sentient Sea Giant, onto the shore. There he encounters vulnerable Violet.

These two beings - an ancient creature, a young girl - offer us their stories: an impactful dialogue around our earth’s climate emergency, told through dance, movement and masterful puppeteering.

Click here for details of times and locations...

Cie Vernaisseurs - Joyous Urban Mess

Five characters with backpacks wander the streets for over an hour blasting out giant streamers.

An explosion of confetti and ribbon from these French artists.

Click here for details of times and locations...

Distant Drums

A dynamic and thought-provoking performance that tells the story of Reggae Sound System culture and its role in the fight for racial equality.

Written by Madu Messenger, narrated by Macka B, soundtrack by Vibronics, Distant Drums promises to be an exhilarating performance not to be missed.

Click here for details of times and locations...

Fatt Butcher - Big Gay Disco Bike

Big Gay Disco Bike is exactly what it sounds like, a feel–good pop-up big gay disco performed on a bike.

Join cabaret superstar, vocal powerhouse, and overwhelmingly modest (and not at all delusional) drag icon, Fatt Butcher on a golden disco bike as we bring the D-I-S-C-O to the 0-1-2-1.

Click here for details of times and locations...

Fierce Flow

It's a party! Fierce Flow is a brand new circus/dance show about black joy and block parties.

In a phenomenal all black and POC cast, the team of party goers proficiently challenge what circus is and can be. Fierce Flow is sexy, silly, bold, and is about taking up space outdoors, created by Symoné and directed by Yami Löfvenberg.

Click here for details of times and locations...

Flatpack Film Screenings

Taking over the big screen, Flatpack will be delving into the archives to explore how the city and its inhabitants looked (and sounded!) back in the 60s, 70s, 80s - expect to see a very different-looking Bull Ring Centre and some great haircuts.

Plus, some of the very best family short films from around the world, exploring music, bugs and beasts, and the great outdoors.

Click here for details of times and locations...

Gandini Juggling

Gandini Juggling present their award-winning sensation SMASHED. Eighty apples, nine performers, four crockery sets.

At the forefront of contemporary circus for over 20 years, and having performed in over 40 countries, this award-winning sensation is a mesmerising mix of circus and theatre.

Click here for details of times and locations...

Guru Dudu Silent Disco

The Guru Dudu team presents Silent Disco Walking Tours fresh from a sell-out season at the Brighton Fringe.

Come on a hilarious dance-walk adventure through Birmingham Weekender - headphones provided.

FREE - please book in advance...

Motionhouse - WILD

WILD, the daring dance-circus production from Motionhouse, explores our disconnect with the natural environment.

Using the powerful physicality distinctive to Motionhouse, performers use dynamic choreography, acrobatic movement and hand-to-hand partnering to move through a forest of tall poles.

Click here for details of times and locations...

Ray Lee - Chorus

A monumental installation of giant kinetic sculptures, a celestial choir of spinning sound machines.

Towering above the audience, a series of giant metal tripods support rotating arms. At the end of each arm, loudspeakers emit precisely tuned musical pitches, singing out a siren call to all those present. Tiny lights create the effect of planets in motion, creating mesmerising orbits of colour.

Click here for details of times and locations...

Stan's Cafe - Of All The People In All The World

Every grain of rice represents someone, somewhere. For this beautifully simple performance installation, the artists build small and large mounds of rice representing political and social realities in the world: one grain of rice for the Queen, twelve grains for people who have walked on the moon, a pile for teachers in the UK and a heap for millionaires in Europe.

By making normally abstract statistics tangible, this powerful work of art is witty, shocking and ultimately moving.

Click here for details of times and locations...

Stan's Cafe - The Commentators

Once The Commentators’ radio commentary brought major sporting events into the nation's living rooms.

Now, having fallen on hard times, they bring their same unquenchable optimism to commentating on anything and everything except professional sport.

Click here for details of times and locations...