ArtsFest was an annual free arts festival held in September in and around
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
from 1997 to 2012. The festival was free for all attendees and featured varied performances ranging from orchestral music, ballet, rock bands, flash mobs, and dance groups. The main venue was
Centenary Square, with other performances taking place across the city centre at venues such as
Birmingham Town Hall,
Chamberlain Square,
Victoria Square, the
Custard Factory,
Brindleyplace, and as far out as
Eastside. Exhibitions were also held at
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Performances and exhibitions at ArtsFest were incredibly varied. Performances by
Birmingham Royal Ballet,
Birmingham Opera Company, and
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra were an annual occurrence, oftentimes together. 2006 first broadened ArtsFest to
Eastside, with
Aston Manor Transport Museum providing transport between there, the city centre, and
The Drum Arts Centre. In 2008, ArtsFest recognised
The Archers
''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...
with a plaque on the
Birmingham Walk of Stars and featured a reggae performance by
Basil Gabbidon. 2009's ArtsFest had a hands-on interactive
Bang Goes the Theory exhibition and 2009's KerrangFest saw a performance by
The Arcadian Kicks. ArtsFest's 2010 theme was Landscape and Heritage, introducing Folk Dance Fest. 2010's KerrangFest saw indie rock band
The Twang performing.
2011 introduced the FlowerFest. 2012's music stage was emceed by
Adrian Goldberg and saw performances by
Poppy & the Jezebels and
The Musgraves.
In early 2013,
Birmingham City Council announced the festival had been cancelled with immediate effect, citing a desire to save money and replace it with a cheaper event. ArtsFest had cost the council in subsidies per year. Some of the money saved would go towards a festival held for the opening of the
Library of Birmingham in September 2013.
Gallery
Image:Approach to Centenary Square at ArtsFest 2005 (42479593).jpg, Approach to Centenary Square at ArtsFest 2005
Image:ArtsFest venue flag.JPG, In 2008, flags were placed at ArtsFest venues around the city.
Image:Artsfest 2009 17 - Birmingham - geograph.org.uk - 4910862.jpg, Stalls at ArtsFest 2009
Image:Artsfest 2009 22 - Birmingham - geograph.org.uk - 4911052.jpg, Stage at Victoria Square at ArtsFest 2009
Image:Artsfest 2009 20 - Birmingham - geograph.org.uk - 4910879.jpg, Floral car at ArtsFest 2009
Image:Artsfest 2 - Birmingham - geograph.org.uk - 4465959.jpg, Stall at ArtsFest 2011
References
External links
*{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121094844/https://www.artsfest.org.uk/, date=2012-01-21, title=Official website
Tourist attractions in Birmingham, West Midlands
Festivals in Birmingham, West Midlands
Arts festivals in England