There are many words one could use to describe Birmingham, but would the words thriving, creative or exciting have come to my mind a mere twelve months ago? The honest answer personally would have been a no. Twelve months ago I'm not actually sure how I would have described Birmingham. As much as I loved this city back then, I never felt it was somewhere particularly inspiring or fabulous to be.
It was just Birmingham.
And then
This year
Something happened...
One could say thanks to the abundance of funding available for young people at the moment, Birmingham have simply become extremely adept at yapping into thiso most welcome and necessary resource, and exploiting it in awesome ways that is causing this outflux of fabulosity from our fair city. Maybe it's because we "brummies" got tired of constantly almost losing the label of "second city" to Manchester or Liverpool of all places. Or maybe it was just the perfect time for the collaborations that have been simmering passionately away in the creative melting pots (read drawing board) of numerous hearts for years, to come bursting forth with vivacious tenacity that the world is only just ready to experience.
I say, who cares? What matters is that awesomeness is happening and the creatives of Birmingham are going IN.
Today's manifestation of greatness in the form of the City of Colours festival, was an exceedingly well organised, vibrant, intelligent opportunity to give anyone access to art, music and creativity in ways they probably wouldn't normally get involved.
The main thing I love about the event I attend and write about is the people. The people in all of their beautiful differentness. I knew an event such as a graffiti festival would attract some interesting characters, colourful costumes and bright personalities.
Birmingham is a particularly interesting place because of the diverse mixture of cultures and races that we have. A friend from Switzerland who recently stayed with me for a few days was overwhelmed with joy at how freely we are able to express ourselves through the way we dress, interact with one another and even do our hair. Without meeting people from outside our usual circles, we may never realise how lucky we are to live in a country where we are able to make choices about what we wear, who we spend time with. I'm sure there are still places where an event such as the street art festival couldnt happen. We are very lucky. But it's only when we come into contact with those from societies in which these freedoms aren't the norm, that we can understand how blessed we are, and put all we have into context.
I loved making my way through the crowds, I'm so glad the weather picked up mid afternoon, sharing the space with many different people from all walks of life. I feel like I just want to spend the whole of this post gushing about how well the organisers did today, so I will indulge by making a list (I adore lists BTW).
Things I loved about the Festival:
The atmosphere was exciting yet laid back
Excellent organisation (for the most part - (I won't mention the couple of workshops that didn't happen)
Everywhere we went there was loads to see, and little activities for the kids to get involved with
It felt very safe and family friendly
There were people of all ages and backgrounds there
The police presence was nicely discreet yet apparent
I loved watching the artsits, particularly the non "famous" ones clearly loving being able to openly practice their art
Great spaces available for the artists to use
Perfect location
I created this blog to have a platform upon which I can contribute to enlightening people about the different ways we could use our creativity, spaces and resources. The City of Colours Festival was a prime example of the potential we as artsits have to make awesome things happen.
What began as a Kickstarter project, became a wonderful example of passionate planning, focus and sheer determination to make something happen. With a wonderful mixture of attendees from many demographics, St Basil's volunteers, performers, dancers, rappers, capoeira as well as driving business to the shops and businesses in the locality, and giving over 100 street artists an opportunity to showcase their work in a public arena I reckon the organisers Street Art Birmingham should go to bed super proud of what they achieved today.