Dates for the UK’s biggest free arts festival have been confirmed – ArtsFest in Birmingham will fill the city centre with hundreds of events and exhibitions over the weekend of 10-12 September. Now in its 13th year, this unique festival attracted well over a quarter of a million people last year to see hundreds of artists perform.
This year the Folk Dance Fest will kick things off with folk dancing from around the world. The popular Classical Fantasia returns again this year featuring the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) and Birmingham Opera Company.
Visitors will be able to take part or witness a ballet dancing world record attempt – as part of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s 20th anniversary celebrations. Birmingham Hippodrome is hosting ‘The Land of Fairytales’ – a variety of street theatre performances and activity. Kerrangfest will close the show with ‘The Twang’ on Sunday in Centenary Square.
The aim of ArtsFest is to make the arts accessible to everyone, and many of the audience are first time arts attendees. They encounter performances they may not otherwise seek out, and often go on to buy tickets for future arts events. With everything from street art to opera, ballet to bhangra and poetry to rock music, the festival offers audiences a wealth of amazing opportunities to enjoy a huge range of artistic experiences for free.
Cllr Martin Mullaney, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport & Culture said: “As we bid for UK City of Culture 2013, we can be proud of the Birmingham’s thriving artistic community and ArtsFest, which attracts visitors from far and wide to see the best of the region’s cultural gems. ”
Across the weekend as a part of ArtsFest there will also be; Dancing for London 2012 – various activity as part of the People Dancing Cultural Olympiad project, The Secret Garden at City Centre Gardens – children and family area with workshops, performances and activities linking to The Rep’s forthcoming Secret Garden production and the Much Wenlock Community games, ArtSpace – an art fair in Victoria Square, Art on the Railings in Centenary Square and a Craft Market in New Street.
Last year’s ArtsFest was an outstanding success with around 270,000 people flocking into the city centre to see some truly incredible events and performances. The festival brings benefits to the city’s cultural sector not only by providing thousands of artists with opportunities to showcase their work, but also by bringing the arts to the forefront of the city. In addition, the estimated overall impact to the city’s economy is a staggering £2million.
ArtsFest is organised by Birmingham City Council, with support from a huge number of sponsors, partners, arts organisations and volunteers. For more information go to www.artsfest.org.uk or contact the ArtsFest team on 0121 464 5678.
ENDS
Media contact: Amrit Sahota on 0121 303 8795
amrit.sahota@birmingham.gov.uk
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