Birmingham Festival 23: Day to day guide to free events in Centenary Square

Birmingham Festival 23 is upon us - all set for a joyous and heartfelt celebration to mark the one year anniversary of the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

The fun begins on Friday July 28 for 10 days until August 6 and - just like the world renowned Opening and Closing Ceremonies - the lineup is a bold showcase of Birmingham’s talent, character and reputation as an international destination for major events.

The free festival is bringing together audiences, artists, local communities and volunteers in a true reflection of the diversity of the city where everyone can watch, listen, relax, dance and play.

The Birmingham Festival 23 opening event, is titled One City, A Thousand Memories, which begins at 7pm in Centenary Square - with DJs on from 6pm as everyone arrives to take up their places. It is hosted by BBC presenter Ayo Akinwolere and DJ and Radio 1Xtra presenter Kaylee Golding. B2022 Mascot, Perry, will make a special appearance with the Dhol Blasters among other highlights - including a host of medal winning athletes, a performance from SANITY and Friendly Fire.

The launch event will be followed by a full line up of free events each day in Centenary Square from 11am - 9pm, catering to all ages and interests. Perry’s Party Picnic which will take place at midday from July 29 – August where the popular 2022 mascot, will be welcoming special guests each day, from all-female Dhol drumming and dancers of Eternal Taal to a Circus Party featuring talented acrobats, jugglers, hula hoopers, and hilarious comedians.

Each day will begin with welcoming participatory activities. Live and on screen performances will include projects commissioned through the Made In Brum open call; and each evening a strand under the umbrella title Twilight Takeovers will feature new partnerships, collectives and artists creatively collaborating to bring each day to a fabulous close.There’s masses of music, a deluge of dance and a plethora of performances. See below for your day to day guide.

The Festival has created a new BSL-guided video to help D/deaf and disabled people navigate their way from New St Station to Centenary Square. The Festival’s spoken sections will be BSL interpreted on stage and on screen. Pre-recorded films will also be captioned. For audiences with a visual impairment, Live Audio Description will be available throughout the Festival. There will be limited general seating options, but a designated Accessible Viewing Area will be made available for wheelchair users and those who are unable to stand for a long period of time. The BSL Video, and all access related information is available on the Festival’s website Access page, here.

DAY ONE: Friday, July 28 - Opening Event

As previously announced, the Festival will open on Friday 28 July with One City, A Thousand Memories. DJ Echo Juliet and BBC Asian Network’s Bobby Frictionwill build  excitement on the square with live VJs from 6pm ahead of the show which will start at 7pm.

The event will be hosted by award-winning BBC presenter Ayo Akinwolere and DJ and Radio 1Xtra presenter Kaylee Goldingin a line up that includes:

• A host of Commonwealth Games medal-winning athletes from Team England.
• Opening Ceremony  Mezzo-Soprano Samantha Oxborough will perform with The Choir with No Name supported by community BSL choir Music in Motion(Made in Brum)
• The Festival site on Centenary Square will feature a big screen where audiences can expect to see newly-commissioned short films, B2022 highlights and messages from a few familiar faces which will be kept a surprise until the night.

DAY TWO: Saturday, July 29 – SAMPAD Takeover Day

Get ready for some amazing South Asian dance and music from Festival Partners Sampadand friends.

• 11am a Relaxed Welcome and Stretch starts the day with mindful movement accompanied by soothing South Asian melodies.
• 12 noon Join Perry’s Picnic with Eternal Taal, a local, all female Dhol drumming and dance group, for an explosive start to the day.
• 1pm Young local poets Anam Hussain and Sana Rashidwill be reading extracts from their own work and  Sampad’s book My City My Home.
• 1.10pm Three local dance groupsBengali Midlands Association, Roji Sarkar, and Rhythm Group come together to create a large-scale dance piece celebrating Indian and Bangladeshi dance and culture.

• 3pm Vakhri-Tohr will be celebrating their regional Indian culture through dance.
• 3.10pm Sonia’z Fusion presents a mix of Indian classical, semi classical, folk, fusion modern and Bollywood dance styles.
• 3.15pm Barcelona-based Kamchàtka Street Theatre Company, an International artist collective will wander the city-centre with their naive and curious characters.
• 3.30pm Abigail Kelly will be performing the Jamaican Suite reimagined for voice and piano by Peter Ashbourne.
• 4pm One of the most exciting and versatile musicians in jazz and hip-hop, award-winning saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch is back in his hometown.
• 5pm Versatile young singer Natasha Rose Seth, who has performed with Arianna Grande and as part of The Voice, presents a programme of  popular English and Hindi songs. At 5.20pm Chitraleka Dance Academy will be performing Bharatanatyam, one of the most spectacular and ancient Indian Classical dance styles.
• 5.45pm Join India Island Academy as they dance their way round an epic journey through South Asian film.
• 6pm Get your heart pumping as Ultimate Bhangra lead audiences through a Bhangra workout.
• 8pm And finally Apache Indian will be returning home from a worldwide tour to close Sampad’s day with pure 90’s magic.

Day Two also sees the start of Paul Ramírez Jonas / FIERCE: PUBLIC TRUST - 29 Jul - 5 Aug How serious are the promises we make to one another, the vows we take, or the pledges made by our civic leaders? This interactive artwork by the New York-based artist behind 2022’s brilliant ‘Key To The City,’ asks everybody to examine the value of their word. Over nine days, anyone can contribute pledges to a stunning installation (beneath the Library of Birmingham canopy) exploring what is important to us.

DAY THREE: Sunday, July 30 – FABRIC Takeover Day

A day of dance for ‘every body’ from festival partner FABRIC, the Midland’s strategic dance development organisation. Celebrating Birmingham, Poet Laureates Casey Bailey and Iona Mandal have been commissioned by FABRIC to accompany and respond to Birmingham’s diverse dance community throughout the day.

• 11am Warm up in an inclusive workshop led by Sense, Relaxed Welcome and Stretch offers calming movement and sound for all bodies.
• 12 noon Perry’s picnic is joined by special guests LYNNEBEC with their infectious and energetic disco-inspired routines.
• 1.15pm What the Eye Sees by Linden Youth, a weekly training programme for young people aged 11 – 21 years, specialising in Contemporary and Afro-Fusion movement styles, alongside supporting positive physical and mental wellbeing, explores the impact that visual perception or cultural stereotypes can have in the struggle of fighting against the tide of mass judgement.
• 1.45pm The Twelve by Future Shift and FABRIC Centre for Advanced Training sees 12 dancers unite for a celebratory performance showcasing individuality and the power of togetherness.
• 2pm UNBOXED by Linden Dance Company is an explosive outdoor duet in which the dancers set themselves in opposition to two giant wooden cubes in a physical representation of their battle with prejudice and judgement.   Autin Dance Theatre uses their unique blend of contemporary storytelling, striking physicality and innovative large designs to transport audiences and communities along a carefully choreographed procession Parade - The Giant Whee.
• 2.45pm Hip Hop theatre company O’Driscoll Collective (Made In Brum) brings live music and a multigenerational all-male cast in a raw, authentic breakin’ and hip hop performance that showcases the power of movement.
• 3.30pm In You’re Out of This World by LYNNEBEC - with their infectious energy and special space disco dance routine, the Astro Groovers train up eager recruits to help them in their quest to discover the greatest party of all time!
• 4-5pm isPower Hour, featuringDance Battle, your chance to join a dance battle with a twist; and the premiere of  Big Gay Disco Bike by FATT Projectswith cabaret superstar and vocal powerhouse, Fatt Butcher, because anywhere can be a dance floor!
• 5.45pm The Big FATT Dance Party by FATT Projects is performed by a larger-than-life team of the UK’s leading drag, cabaret and nightlife entertainers, voguers and dancers - audiences will be guided through a range of accessible interactive dance moments including disco line-dancing, square dances, and soul trains.

DAY FOUR: Monday, July 31

• 11am The day begins with a Sense Wellbeing Sound Bath
• 1.15pm GEM’s Dance Academy (Made In Brum) will lead a fully inclusive up-beat and fun dance class.
• 1.45pm Got 2 Sing Choir Harborne (Made In Brum) will sing chart toppers to golden oldies for everyone to join in.
• 3pm THE COMMONS is a sanctuary for safe, playful yet challenging discussions about our connected past, present and future. Come along to this gathering of minds and hearts led by Festival Artistic Associate, Zeddie Lawal.
• 4pm refugee and migrant support group Celebrating SanctuaryBirmingham presents: the‘Sunshine Afro-roots’ music ofTwoManTing (Sierra Leone / UK) plus Eastern European contemporary folk band Iryna Muha & Dmitry Fedotov (Ukraine / Latvia).
• 5pm Birmingham 2022 Volunteers reunion, Commonwealth Collective Party invites everyone to dust off their balti-orange and blue uniforms for a Birmingham 2022 Volunteers reunion. Olympic and Commonwealth hurdler Colin Jackson CBE is a special guest. And the event is hosted by DJ Tammy Gooding - voice of BRMB, Smoothand BBC WMfor many years before joining BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester. Party tunes will be provided by 6 Music Funk n Soul Show favourite DJ Sam Redmore who’ll spin Funk, Soul and Disco Classics to round off the celebration.
• 6pm Dance along to some classic tunes with Urban Line Dancing.

• 7pm An Irish music and dance extravaganza with Birmingham Irish Association and Ceol Agency (Twilight Takeover) who will throw a ceilidh the likes of which Centenary Square has never seen before!

DAY FIVE: Tuesday, August 1

• 11am Beginning with the daily Sense Wellbeing Sound Bath
• 12 noon Perry’s Party Picnic with B’Operais a classical music experience for the under 5swhere they can soar with the birds, buzz with the bees, march with the animals, and help Incy Wincy get back up again.
• 1pm This is followed by more music from a capella choir Voices Entwined (Made In Brum) who performed at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.
• 1.30pm Journey of Light by The Seekers (Made In Brum) brings the colours of Sufi tradition presented by Rubaya Pirzada, fused with jazz keys by Dominc Scohy, exotic rhythms played by Richard Kensington, live poetry by Rango, and an enchanting dance by beautiful Aruna.
• 2pm Warm, reflective, open-hearted and lyrical jazz, 5 piece band A Hologram Maze, led by pianist/composer David Austin Grey, who navigate different moods and emotions.
• 3pm THE COMMONS is a sanctuary for safe, playful yet challenging discussions about our connected past, present and future. Come along to this gathering of minds and hearts led by Festival Artistic Associate, Zeddie Lawal.
• 4pm BIMM Birmingham Showcase (Rock & Metal)features  Insurgent with their blend of soaring vocals with crushing instrumentation; and untamed, Alternative-Rock disruptors SANTU.
• 5pm Neighbourhood showcases some of the best emerging Artists and Musicians the city has to offer.
• 6pm Sharon Brown Fitness will get your body moving and your energy up for a dance fitness session Sofunk®.
• 7pm The unmissable Birmingham Repertory Theatre concert performance of Grimeboy, (Twilight Takeover)) from Casey Bailey, former Birmingham Poet Laureate and winner of the Greater Birmingham Future Face of Arts and Culture 2020 is directed by The Rep’s Associate Director Madeleine Kludje and featuring Keiren Hamilton-Amos, Corey Weekes and Alexander Lobo. Birmingham-born Grime artist C4 will be guest MC.

DAY SIX: Wednesday, August 2

• 11am Sense Wellbeing Sound Bath
• 1pm SHE Choir Birmingham (1pm) a community choir for women, non-binary people and those who identify as female based in central Birmingham,sing original arrangements of pop, rock, indie, R&B and more.
• 1.30pm Natty Ola (Made in Brum) will perform a showcase from her new album Stories, performing her crazy live jazz original scatting accompanied by her amazing band.
• 2.45pm What is it like to be a girl? By Amplify Sound explores themes around the female experience as creatives share their experiences through poetry, song, dance and live electronic percussion.
• 4pm Shine Girl Shine by IAM West Midlands is a celebration of Black female talent in the underground music scene, right here in the West Midlands.
• 5pm Three artists will be paired with our live band and share their gifts with the city and Selextorhood DJ Set will be presenting a 1-hour DJ set with a bk2bk, bringing the energy up with some of their top selextors!
• 6pm All About The Fight by Flexus Dance Collective is an empowering, innovative Grime Dance Theatre project, embracing the culture and spirit of Boxing, Grime Music, and Dance. 

DAY SEVEN: Thursday, August 3

• 12 noon Perry’s Party Picnic with Capoeira – The Music Movement Martial Art  will be a Brazilian morning of dance and martial arts.
• 2pm & 4pm Mughal Miniatures: Animal Paradise by Sonia Sabri  is a fun and upbeat outdoor performance event for all the family, which takes inspiration from the exquisite traditional art of Indian and Persian miniature painting.
• 2.15pm Cog in the Wheel is a street dance storybook unfolding on stage, revealing the impact on our lives of the constant use of mobile technology and hustle culture. The piece is conceptualised by self-taught dancer and teacher Billy Read and choreographed & performed by Def Motion, a mixture of deaf and hearing dancers.
• 4.15pm Yaram Arts will bring an exciting lion masquerade dance performance accompanied by an assortment of drummers.
• 6pm Drum N Bounce is Brum’s very own uplifting dance fitness class to drum & bass music, created by Emma Smallman. DJ Danny Byrd of Hospital Records is joining. Part of the University of Birmingham’s Culture Forward initiative, Soul City Arts will create an indoor installation entitled NOMAD within the Assembly Rooms in the University’s Exchange building.  Artistic Director Mohammed Ali brings a specially made ‘nomadic reflection booth’ for the public to step inside and scribe and record their most cherished thoughts and du’as (prayers).
• 6.45pm Filmed recordings of the hopes, prayers and du’as expressed through the day will be gathered in a same-day-edit and shared on the Festival screen.
• 7pm Day six comes to an end with Languages Between Strangers by Amerah Saleh (Twilight Takeover). Journey through a collision of poetic verses, harmonious melodies, pulsating RAP beats, and electrifying dance moves. Behold the tale of global kinship, meticulously crafted by a triumphant triumvirate of Birmingham storytellers. Co-written and performed by Raza Hussain and Sipho Ndlovu with music by Czafari.

DAY EIGHT: Friday, August 4

• 11am The daily Sense Wellbeing Sound Bath
• 12 noon Perry’s Party with Picnic Creative Active Lives, the biggest parachute party Birmingham has ever seen!
• 1pm & 3pm ZeroG is a spectacular new dance show for two dancers fromCorey Baker Dance that uses a specially constructed, counterweighted lift that allows the dancers to move as if in zero-gravity and is part of a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA).
• 1.15pm Tell it to the Music(Made In Brum) is a monthly poetry open mic featuring live improvising musicians run by poet Leo Dragstedt and musicians Amy Coates and Vato Klemera. Joined by drummer Rochaé Stephens-Morrison, the band presents a piece featuring poets Bradley Taylor, poet in residence at The Bookshop on The Green, and Memory Bhunu, 2019 Unislam winner!
• 1.45pm GAP Entertainment(Made In Brum) will be showcasing a dance performance from the Creative Collective and the Simmer Dance team made up of some of the best young dancers in Birmingham.
• 2pm Vanessa Sinclair VNS Productions brings you The Live Vibe Takeover (Made in Brum) - an incredible visual and auditory experience bringing established and emerging artists, singers, MCs, and dancers together. Sharing skills and passing the baton from one generation to the next.
• 3.30pm Five-piece emo band with a message of strength in diversity, Second Cities(Made In Brum) blend metal and pop punk for sad teens with happy faces.
• 4pm BBC Asian Networktakes over the stage showcasing the best of new and upcoming British Asian talent from Birmingham.
• 6pm BBC Asian Network Motivationspresent an hour of motivational workouts. There will be plenty of high energy and mood boosting Bollywood, Bhangra, and Asian Beats to get you motivated!
• 7pm 93:00 Collective(Twilight Takeover) take us to a post-apocalyptic 2093; Birmingham has fallen into disarray after a catastrophic event, “The Blackout". In an effort to reclaim their voices, the city’s resilient communities use music, fashion, and dance to promote unity and express their aspirations for a better world.

DAY NINE: Saturday, August 5

• 1.30pm come have a taster of the fitness class Fitzelles (Made In Brum)  by award-winning fitness instructor Ellie Hooper and dance along to Zumba with her crew!
• 3pm The NuChaptah (Made In Brum), perform multi-genre music, bringing uplifting positive vibes that will make any crowd get up and dance. Stay around for the end of the performance with dancers joining on stage for a truly special moment.
• 6pm Prepare to sweat in a fiery dance-party by Boxout. UK DJs and dancers fresh from their regular night in Digbeth where community-spirit and good vibes rule. With easy routines and fun instructions, getting it wrong just adds to the party!
• 7pm And bringing the day to an end experience the awe-inspiring Mast Qalandar (Twilight Takeover) Dancehall Mashup (MQD Mashup!), a mesmerising intercultural fusion of music and dance directed by Associate Artist Mukhtar Dar with music by Simon Duggal and featuring international guest artist Arieb Azhar from Pakistan. This international extravaganza celebrates solidarity and resilience in Birmingham’s communities, blending diverse genres to create a unique "Glokal" experience.

DAY TEN: Sunday, August 6 – Closing

• 12 noon The day starts with Rainbow Voices, the West Midlands’ community choir for LGBTQIA+ people and their friends, are united by their love of song.
• 12.30pm A School’s Out Disco celebrates the summer holidays with moments of joy and cabaret.
• 12.45pm Made in Brum act, Headquarters of Groove will bring a selection of feel-good Acid Jazz, Neo-Soul and dance tunes, ahead of two of the city’s finest and established talents in a back-to-back celebration of music and spoken word.
• 1pm Ginny Lemon’s Schools Out Disco Party brings everyone together to mark the festival’s last day in a fun-filled party with joy and cabaret.
• 1.15pm Empires Pioneers and the New Radicals with Elizabeth ‘Zeddie’ Lawal in which you can join a VR project which maps Birmingham’s journey from empire to innovation in ten defining moments around Centenary Square.
• 2pm Headquarters of Groove bring a feel-good inspired mix of Dance, Neo Soul, Funk and Acid Jazz.
• 2.30pm Screening: City of a Thousand Trades with Birmingham Royal Ballet - a love letter to Birmingham in dance commissioned in 2021 by Carlos Acosta to celebrate the city’s richly diverse heritage and cultures.
• 3pm Fresh from a national tour, an enhanced edition of Dancing to Music You Hate by Jasmine Gardosi (Birmingham’s poet laureate) returns to Birmingham, adapted for the festival with special guests. Expect explosive dubstep bass-lines and soaring folk violin blowing apart the boundaries of gender and musical genre alike.
• From 5pm Birmingham Festival 23 will with B: Music: NEXT TRACK - Following 2022’s Beyond the Bricks of Brum, Next Track sees former poet laureate Casey Bailey working alongside Musical Director, Ashley Allen, and a range of regional music, poetry and spoken word artists bringing Birmingham Festival 2023 to a close. Celebrating the city as it is now, where it came from and where it might be in future, this performance will take audiences on a journey looking at acceptance, arrival and appreciation.

Who is supporting Birmingham Festival 23 and what have organisers said about the lineup?

Commissioned and supported by Birmingham City Council to celebrate the city’s creativity, Arts Council England and University of Birmingham were previously announced as Principle Partners and Hollywood Monster as Presenting Partner.

United by 2022 is Birmingham Festival 23’s Volunteer Partner, enabling Festival 23 to harness the spirit of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games’ Volunteers, using the Volunteers Collective portal which connects volunteers to opportunities within the West Midlands. The same team at United by 2022 have also supported the Festival’s Have-a-Go Zone where audiences can try out their skills in cricket, squash, lawn bowls and other sports.

Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, National Express West Midlands, West Midlands Metro and West Midlands Railway are providing free travel to all volunteers.

Gowling WLG is supportingPerry’s Party Picnic which will take place at midday from July 29 – August 5. Through Birmingham Festival 23 support the Festival organisers and Birmingham City Council are working to identify groups within Birmingham to be given vouchers to swap for free Perry picnic boxes to ensure Perry’s Picnic can be enjoyed by all.

Steven Knight CBE, and former gold-medal winning Team England Netball Captain, Ama Agbeze, are Patrons of the Festival, signifying the city’s cultural and sporting ambitions.

Councillor Saima Suleman, Cabinet Member Digital, Culture, Heritage and Tourism at Birmingham City Council said: “This is a real legacy from the Commonwealth Games, continuing the fantastic celebration of all that is great about the culture and creativity of the city.

“Birmingham City Council is proud to have commissioned and funded Festival 23, showcasing the creativity across our communities and the city’s rich cultural offer through programming committed to diversity, inclusion and homegrown talent.”

Raidene Carter, Creative Director of Birmingham Festival 23 said: “I am immensely proud of the Festival. Through the hard work of all the team, our partners and all the talented artists featured, we have pulled together a programme that highlights the breadth of talent in the city.

“All that’s missing is the amazing Brummie turn-out - last year we saw that audiences in Birmingham are the best - they’re relaxed, up for fun and so welcoming to visitors from outside the city.

“As the month-long countdown begins, the excitement is building, and we hope the warm weather will hold so that people can really make the most of the creative and welcoming site. Either way, we think the Festival will bring joy to audiences and participants alike.”