Suburb comes to life for annual Street Festival.
Kings Heath Street Festival saw the Birmingham suburb mak the end of summer at a free all-day community event organised by Kings Heath Business Improvement District on Sunday 11th September 2016.
Thousands of people from across the city turned out to mcelebrate all things Kings Heath at the much-loved annual event, with an estimated 12,000 attending the huge celebrations on the day.
Since its birth three years ago, the festival has grown in size and popularity each year, having expanded from just York Road in 2014 to this year include Heathfield Road, Silver Street and Kings Heath Village Square.
The day saw three stages of live music curated by Hare & Hounds, Kitchen Garden Café and Birmingham Rockschool, with highlights including Dirty Old Folkers, Swampmeat Family Band, and Birmingham Rockschool Choir, to name just a few, with Bowie tribute band the Major Toms closing the festival.
Festival goers browsed the wide variety of BID businesses, local traders and organisations at leisure, showcasing their produce and wares in the many market stalls lining the streets.
Owner of BID business I Had One Of Those, Luke Close, described the day: “It was a fantastic, well organised event that had everyone, young and old, smiling all day! The weather was on our side, and which helped create a chilled out, fun vibe throughout the whole area. Days like this really help to put Kings Heath on the map and make it a great place to live, work, and visit!”
The little ones were kept entertained with a huge selection of children’s activities on Kings Heath Village Square and Silver Street, including bumper cars, the big wheel, bouncy castles, wet fun at All Saints Centre’s fountains, arts and crafts activities, and much more, with guest appearances from children’s favourites, the Minions.
Street food was served up from Esme’s Eats, Fat Bread, Canoodle, Barebones Pizza, Hungry Penguin Co, Bournville Waffle Company, Byzantium, Sylhet Spice, Little Sixty Three, and more, as well as bars from Kitchen Garden Café, Hare & Hounds, Cherry Reds, and fresh coconuts and tropical cocktails at Auntie Agatha’s Caribbean corner on Silver Street.
Kings Heath BID Town Centre Manager, Martin Mullaney, said: “Thank you to everyone who attended and made the Street Festival such a magical day! Our aim was to put on a family friendly day for the whole community, which also raised the profile of our local businesses. The response from the public so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and we’re looking forward to organising similar events in Kings Heath in the future!”
Attendees took to social media following the event to praise the day, describing it as “an amazing day” with a “great atmosphere,” and have already expressed that they “can’t wait for the next one!”
Organisers of the event, Rachael Giaramita, Director at Tiger Bam Communications said: “This is the third year we’ve been involved in Kings Heath Street Festival, and it was another resounding success! The event has really gathered momentum over the previous two years, and it’s important to develop the offering for our attendees each year. With the addition of Silver Street and Kings Heath Village Square, we were able to increase the entertainment and activities programmed for the day, resulting in the biggest and best Street Festival yet!”
Pic: Sam Wood