Birmingham Weekender secures new Festival Directors

Birmingham’s biggest arts festival, Birmingham Weekender, has secured two new directors.

Graham Callister, director of Creative Programmes, Birmingham Hippodrome, and Piali Ray, artistic director, Sampad South Asian Arts will be responsible for coordinating the event’s artistic programme.

They will be supported by the wider artistic programming team, which includes Aaron Wright, of Fierce Festival and Tim Hodgson, a freelance producer.

The festival, which is staged this year over the weekend September 22-24 and which is expected to attract thousands of people to the city, will be produced by independent arts producer Caroline Davis, on behalf of Culture Central, the development organisation in the city.

The festival promises a weekend of free outdoor theatre, dance, music, art installations and hidden performance across the city-centre, from Broad Street to Eastside, including the city’s retail heart, with a South Asian focus as part of Utsav, Birmingham’s Year of South Asian Culture.

Mr Callister said: “Birmingham Weekender is one of the biggest events in the city’s calendar. We have outstanding support from the city’s retailers and it’s fantastic to see so many sponsors coming on board at this early stage of planning.”

Piali Ray

Piali Ray added: “2017 is Utsav, Birmingham’s Year of South Asian Arts, and so we plan to bring an Asian flavour to this year’s Weekender. We’re expecting well over 100,000 people to visit Birmingham city centre for Weekender and we have many exciting plans to bring outstanding arts and performance into our shopping centres and streets.”

Birmingham Weekender is the chance to see Birmingham’s major arts organisations alongside shining lights from the city’s independent scene, plus invited international artists and a number of significant new commissions.

The first programme announcements for the event will be made in the spring.