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Show business

The Birmingham Awards: an award that captures the cultural spirit of the city

Britain has long had a reputation as a country of high-profile cultural awards and prestigious ceremonies. It is here that awards such as the BAFTAs and the Brit Awards are presented. These are events watched by millions of viewers around the...

Key Hill Cemetery in Birmingham: an exclusive Victorian cemetery with a rich history

Key Hill Cemetery in Birmingham is one of the city’s oldest and most famous cemeteries. It was opened in 1836 and became the first non-denominational burial ground in the UK, open to people of all faiths. Consequently, the cemetery quickly became...

Late Night Lycett: Birmingham humor live on air

British humour has long been a global phenomenon, recognised far beyond the borders of the UK. Its wit, irony, absurd plots and clever wordplay have shaped an entire cultural tradition—from the legendary Monty Python sketches to modern satirical shows on the...

When the city becomes a stage: Birmingham’s new music formats

Birmingham has a long and vibrant tradition of hosting concerts and various music shows. This history ranges from large-scale open-air festivals to chamber performances in theatre halls. The city has long established itself as one of the most important cultural centres...

A city without applause—how COVID-19 put Birmingham’s show business on hold

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world. The deadly virus tested many areas of life, and the cultural industry was no exception. In the United Kingdom, the government imposed strict quarantine restrictions. All mass events were cancelled, theaters, concert venues,...

The Birmingham native who made the United States laugh

John Oliver is an Emmy and Writers Guild Award-winning comedian and writer. He is the host and producer of the HBO show "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," which has earned a host of prestigious awards, including 28 Emmys, seven Writers...

ACTUAL

A city without applause—how COVID-19 put Birmingham’s show business on hold

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world. The deadly virus tested many areas of life, and the cultural industry was no exception. In the United...

About the man who invented British popular cinema

As is well known, the Jewish community in Birmingham has a rich and eventful history. This is partly due to its participation in the cultural, social...

Festival

Spices, bass, and diplomacy: how one festival captures the essence of modern Birmingham

It turns out that in Birmingham, you can ‘visit’ India, Jamaica, or somewhere between Eastern Europe and the Middle East in just ten minutes—all you need to do is stroll through the rows of Brum Global Fusion, the local annual festival....

Weekender, or a weekend in Birmingham

There is a special atmosphere in Birmingham when, at the end of summer, the city seems to slow down a little and allow itself an extra, almost incongruous sense of joy. It is a time when it begins to behave as...

The forefather of Birmingham’s festivals: charity, prestige, and fine music

If you think that crowdfunding is a 21st-century invention, then you simply haven’t looked at 18th-century Birmingham. There, the idea of collective fundraising didn’t look like a trendy tool or a marketing strategy—rather, like a normal urban survival practice. At that time,...

No headliners. No tickets. No big stages. This is the Birmingham International Jazz & Blues Festival

If you happen to come across a saxophonist in Birmingham this July, don’t rush to get your change out—chances are, this isn’t a street musician trying to scrape together enough for a ticket home, but a performer at the Birmingham International...

A festival that doesn’t try to please everyone: how Birmingham created Supersonic

Birmingham has a real love for festivals, although lately this love has come to resemble a long-distance relationship. Some of the city’s iconic festivals are gradually disappearing from the map—partly due to ‘budget cuts’ and partly for more mundane reasons. Others,...

Birmingham Photography Festival — here you can communicate and learn how to take photos

Birmingham Photography Festival, the first of its kind. It has made it a point to showcase a wide range of talent. The event was organised by a creative trio of photographers - Fraser McGee, Beth Astington and Martin O'Callaghan. This team,...

ACTUAL

Fraud and scams in Birmingham — between cunning, audacity and vigilance

Every year, thousands of Britons fall into the cunning traps set by modern fraudsters. From large cities such as Birmingham to the remotest corners of England,...

Benjamin Zephaniah — life in poetry as an act of resistance

Benjamin Zephaniah was a poet, writer and activist whose voice has remained an important part of the British cultural landscape for decades. As one of the...

Success Stories

Walls that build a community: the synagogue where Birmingham’s Jewish history began

The establishment of any Jewish community usually begins with a synagogue, and the example of Singers Hill Synagogue is a clear illustration of this. People gather around the synagogue; it leads to the establishment of Jewish schools, the emergence of Jewish...

Francis Galton: a genius, an eccentric, and Darwin’s cousin

Birmingham is traditionally associated with the Industrial Revolution, engineering, and innovation. It was here that technologies were developed that transformed Britain, and for centuries the local factories and workshops attracted people with unconventional thinking. It was here that new technologies were...

Birmingham stories: even water makes it into the Guinness Book of Records

Birmingham is one of those cities that doesn’t feel the need to prove how ‘cool’ it is with words, because it has factories, canals, engineering workshops, and a touch of the Industrial Revolution’s stubbornness in its character. And if you look...

The Birmingham con artist’s modus operandi: simple schemes, mass appeal, and people’s trust

Birmingham, like any city in the world, has long existed in two parallel realities. In one, it is a city of universities, businesses, industrial traditions, and staid British reserve. In the other, it is an endless carnival of small- and large-scale...

Art Against Stereotypes: How Birmingham Introduced Abstract Art to Britain

Postwar Birmingham has a rather interesting—if not downright strange—reputation in British culture. While London in the prewar history of the early 1940s was traditionally presented as the capital of art, fashion, new ideas, and talented people, Birmingham long remained a city...

About the man who invented British popular cinema

As is well known, the Jewish community in Birmingham has a rich and eventful history. This is partly due to its participation in the cultural, social and business life of the city. And, of course, people such as Oscar Deutsch. They...

ACTUAL

Philip Edward Fisher — from his native Birmingham to the international stage

He began playing the piano at the age of nine, making his stage debut just three years later with Shostakovich's Second Piano Concerto. He has performed...

LATEST

Walls that build a community: the synagogue where Birmingham’s Jewish history began

The establishment of any Jewish community usually begins with a synagogue, and the example of Singers Hill Synagogue is a clear illustration of this. People gather around the synagogue; it leads to the establishment of Jewish schools, the emergence of Jewish...

Francis Galton: a genius, an eccentric, and Darwin’s cousin

Birmingham is traditionally associated with the Industrial Revolution, engineering, and innovation. It was here that technologies were developed that transformed Britain, and for centuries the local factories and workshops attracted people with unconventional thinking. It was here that new technologies were...

Birmingham stories: even water makes it into the Guinness Book of Records

Birmingham is one of those cities that doesn’t feel the need to prove how ‘cool’ it is with words, because it has factories, canals, engineering workshops, and a touch of the Industrial Revolution’s stubbornness in its character. And if you look...

The Birmingham con artist’s modus operandi: simple schemes, mass appeal, and people’s trust

Birmingham, like any city in the world, has long existed in two parallel realities. In one, it is a city of universities, businesses, industrial traditions, and staid British reserve. In the other, it is an endless carnival of small- and large-scale...

Art Against Stereotypes: How Birmingham Introduced Abstract Art to Britain

Postwar Birmingham has a rather interesting—if not downright strange—reputation in British culture. While London in the prewar history of the early 1940s was traditionally presented as the capital of art, fashion, new ideas, and talented people, Birmingham long remained a city...

Spices, bass, and diplomacy: how one festival captures the essence of modern Birmingham

It turns out that in Birmingham, you can ‘visit’ India, Jamaica, or somewhere between Eastern Europe and the Middle East in just ten minutes—all you need to do is stroll through the rows of Brum Global Fusion, the local annual festival....
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