The sun’s out (!) so may as well go and enjoy it.

Birmingham’s Southside District is gearing itself up for a sizzling summer of fun, with a string of free events and performances taking place in venues and on the streets.

The Birmingham Jazz and Blues Festival returns to Southside between the 18th and 27th July, boasting an amazing international line-up. A number of the Festival’s high points will take place at the Arcadian, including 6pm performances by Velke Losiny on Saturday 19th July and the Simon Spillett Quartet on Saturday 26th July.

CircusMASH will bring their skills and passion for circus entertainment to the Arcadian Centre on Sunday 24th August, with showcases of their ‘Float’ project taking place at 1.30pm and 5.30pm. And, following the success of last year’s event, Southside is also pleased to announce the return of Birmingham Hippodrome’s Summer in Southside for the weekends of August. The free outdoor festival promises amazing outdoor theatre, dance, circus and music performances, and not always in the spaces you’d expect!

Julia Chance, Southside BID manager, said: “Southside is vibrant all year round, but there’s nowhere in Birmingham that’s quite like Southside in the Summer. We have some wonderfully talented performers visiting the district this Summer and, with many of these performances free to enjoy over July and August, there’s no better place in the city when the sun is shining.”

As well as all the exciting free events, Summer brings the hugely popular musical Wicked to the Birmingham Hippodrome from Wednesday 9th July. From Friday 25th July, The Electric Cinema also brings back to life its Shock and Gore Festival for horror and fantasy fans.

To find out what else Birmingham’s Southside district has to offer, please visit www.enjoysouthside.co.uk