The Fun Factory Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 3 hours ago, VillaChris said: Bizarre to me Brum dosen't have any sort of music museum. Absolutely. Liverpool always bang on about the Beatles, Manchester the same for their various music scenes, and very little for Brum. Can put a strong case for being the birthplace of heavy metal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 Brummie musicians tend not to make a big deal of their regional identity, whereas for the Manc and Scouse bands it’s often all they’ve got 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted January 27, 2023 Author VT Supporter Share Posted January 27, 2023 14 hours ago, icouldtelltheworld said: I've not been to America but I've heard that you basically need to drive to get anywhere in LA. That's true of Birmingham as well, and a lot of the current work going on in the city that people are talking about in this thread is geared towards making the place easier to navigate without needing to drive. I'm sure you are already aware, but we tend to get compared to Detroit because of the importance of the car industry here and its decline over time That Detroit comparison does make sense in some ways, for sure, with carbuilding, but Detroit, well, it's a different planet, sadly. It has roughly half the number of people as Brum -- and more than 20 times the number of murders. It's far more traumatised by neglect, economic decline and stunning, weird depopulation. It has a Mad Max feel, literally a wasteland in places with lots of abandoned housing, crumbling buildings. It's also far less diverse, overall, compared to Birmingham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 27, 2023 Moderator Share Posted January 27, 2023 2 hours ago, The Fun Factory said: Absolutely. Liverpool always bang on about the Beatles, Manchester the same for their various music scenes, and very little for Brum. Can put a strong case for being the birthplace of heavy metal. Do Liverpool really do that? Sure there's a (very gut wrenching) Beatles tourist industry here but that doesn't receive any council funding etc There used to be a Beatles themed festival called the Matthew St festival which was council funded but that was cut out of the culture programme a long time before any budget cuts. The Liverpool Culture Company, despite cuts are still promoting events in the city to attract tourists and those events have very little to do with the Beatles. The Beatles industry is something that developeed naturally with all the American and Japanese tourists that came to the city every year. People filled a need and created their own businesses, it promotes itself. Football is a far bigger attractor to Liverpool than the Beatles in terms of tourist spend by a big margin Does Birmingham have a council run department that runs festivals and other cultural events? A city the size of Birmingham should have stuff on every weekend, big iconic events. In the summer we have Festivals in Sefton park, some of them are even free. There's other festivals like the Smithdown Road Festival where all the bars on the road put up stages, the road is closed, it all takes council approval and help but does anything like that happen in Birmingham? Councils need to act as a catalyst, offer advice and help too, to these events, show they can be done and after a while private business takes over and they become self serving. The idea that Liverpool's tourism or Manchester's for that matter is about The Beatles or Joy Division / The Smiths is silly, they are cultural reference points, that is all. Football does much more for both those cities tourism than music but the music of today plays a part, not some museum acts that don't exist any more Birmingham Council doesn't seem to have the imagination or the will to try and attract such events. The city has lots of parks that would be suitable, it has a musical history, they should use thos parks for festivals, they should use Birminghams fantastic multicultural history as another reference point. In short Birmingham doesn't celebrate it's cultural history anywhere near enough. It really is a case of build it and they will come. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icouldtelltheworld Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Marka Ragnos said: That Detroit comparison does make sense in some ways, for sure, with carbuilding, but Detroit, well, it's a different planet, sadly. It has roughly half the number of people as Brum -- and more than 20 times the number of murders. It's far more traumatised by neglect, economic decline and stunning, weird depopulation. It has a Mad Max feel, literally a wasteland in places with lots of abandoned housing, crumbling buildings. It's also far less diverse, overall, compared to Birmingham. Yeah any comparison between UK and US cities/regions is obviously going to be limited by the sheer depth and scale of contextual differences between the two countries. It's all relative though - homicide rates are obviously much lower on the whole over here. However, at 24.5 incidents per 100,000 people, the West Midlands police force area has comfortably the highest rate of gun crime per capita of anywhere across England + Wales Data from the England and Wales crime survey here in case it is of any interest. Edited January 27, 2023 by icouldtelltheworld 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichfield Dean Posted January 27, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 27, 2023 7 hours ago, VillaChris said: Bizarre to me Brum dosen't have any sort of music museum. Agreed, but the Home Of Metal guys and various others have been putting on occasional events at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, there is a lot of talk about turning The Crown into some kind of tourist spot and then there's this: So there is a lot of interest in this sort of thing, and endless attempts to get something done, but for whatever reason it never quite seems to happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 27, 2023 Moderator Share Posted January 27, 2023 What time do the clubs shut in Brum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted January 27, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 27, 2023 I don’t see how the marketing of the local area’s attractions can be improved upon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted January 28, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 28, 2023 On 26/01/2023 at 22:35, Lichfield Dean said: The building works are even worse now - Victoria Square has been totally dug up for some reason and it's making walking through town a nightmare. Yes, at some unidentified point in the future the town might be better as a result but at the moment it's awful and quite frankly it's doing my head in. Victoria Square and most of the City Centre streets to follow are being dug up because the dreadful 90's red street paving is falling to pieces and looks terribly dated. You can hardly walk on any pavement in Brum on a rainy day without stepping on a paving slab that spurts muddy water all up your leg. The repaving works are desperately needed and will improve the street scene tenfold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icouldtelltheworld Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 (edited) 16 hours ago, VillaChris said: Edit - quoted wrong post Edited January 28, 2023 by icouldtelltheworld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichfield Dean Posted January 28, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 28, 2023 7 hours ago, sidcow said: Victoria Square and most of the City Centre streets to follow are being dug up because the dreadful 90's red street paving is falling to pieces and looks terribly dated. You can hardly walk on any pavement in Brum on a rainy day without stepping on a paving slab that spurts muddy water all up your leg. The repaving works are desperately needed and will improve the street scene tenfold. Oh, I hope so. I know they are intending to pedestrianise some of the surrounding roads, which will be amazing, but right now the whole town centre is just a total mess. Literally everywhere. It's there any info anywhere about what is happening at Victoria Square? I haven't found anything and there is no clue on site about what is going on. It is annoying and confusing people that are walking around that area - some messaging or info would be useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted January 28, 2023 Moderator Share Posted January 28, 2023 16 hours ago, bickster said: Birmingham Council doesn't seem to have the imagination or the will to try and attract such events. The city has lots of parks that would be suitable, it has a musical history, they should use thos parks for festivals, they should use Birminghams fantastic multicultural history as another reference point. In short Birmingham doesn't celebrate it's cultural history anywhere near enough. It really is a case of build it and they will come. The Christmas market, The Moseley folk festival, that sort of thing? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted January 28, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 28, 2023 1 hour ago, Lichfield Dean said: Oh, I hope so. I know they are intending to pedestrianise some of the surrounding roads, which will be amazing, but right now the whole town centre is just a total mess. Literally everywhere. It's there any info anywhere about what is happening at Victoria Square? I haven't found anything and there is no clue on site about what is going on. It is annoying and confusing people that are walking around that area - some messaging or info would be useful. You can find a lot of information and links to documents on here https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threads/birmingham-city-centre-public-realm-improvements-u-c.2275967/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted January 28, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 28, 2023 (edited) I think there is still a Birmingham Film Festival and Jazz Festival? Artsfest used to be massive and brilliant but got cancelled by budget cuts. There used to be a big music festival in Cofton Park but that fizzled out, then there was Across the Tracks which used to take place where HS2 Station is being built. Obviously Pride and St Patrick's day parades are amongst the biggest of their kind. There was a big hippity hoppity Festival at The NEC last year but I guess the majority of visitors just go straight to Birmingham International or interchange at New Street to get there. We are missing a big music festival. Cannon Hill Park would be ideal for one too. Edited January 28, 2023 by sidcow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seat68 Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 The Diwali Mela is huge festival in Birmingham often forgotten by us white folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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