The award-winning Birmingham Weekender promises a packed weekend of free outdoor theatre, music, art installations and performance across the city-centre, from Broad Street to Digbeth, including the city’s retail heart. The festival will feature well-known local arts organisations and invited international artists, including a number of significant new commissions.

The 2017 festival will build on the success of the first Birmingham Weekender, which took place in 2015. Birmingham Weekender 2015 attracted an estimated audience of 150,000 people, who enjoyed 200 performances, including seven new commissions, over three days. Birmingham Royal Ballet performed in Bullring shopping centre, street artists could be found in the newly opened New Street Station and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra popped-up in The Mailbox, whilst the night-time spectacular Maudits Sonnants, presented by Birmingham Hippodrome, saw a fairy-tale performance in the skies above Centenary Square.

Visitors danced on a carpark roof, bumped into a flying urban astronaut, learned the Haka and enjoyed a Mexican day-of-the-dead party, complete with a 6-metre-tall walking puppet of Lady Godiva.

Birmingham Weekender 2017 aims to draw residents and visitors into the city centre for a weekend celebration of the city’s culture. Visitor surveys from Birmingham Weekender 2015 indicated that some 46% of visitors came from outside the city, helping to establish Birmingham as a major cultural visitor attraction.

Birmingham Weekender is brought to the city by Culture Central, the cultural development agency for Birmingham.

Gary Topp, Director of Culture Central, commented: “We are delighted that Birmingham Weekender will return in 2017. The city-centre will be humming with a party atmosphere – where else can you listen to a world-class orchestra or witness stunning dance performances for free, on the streets and in shopping centres? Birmingham Weekender 2017 will build on the success of the 2015 festival programme and will be even more ambitious in its scope, strengthening Birmingham’s reputation as a international cultural destination.”

Further details of Birmingham Weekender 2017 will be released early in 2017.