Birmingham culture: a guide to the city's creative life

Birmingham has one of the richest cultural lives of any city in Britain. It is home to a world-famous orchestra, a leading ballet company, one of the country's oldest repertory theatres and a music scene that gave the world heavy metal. Add the traditions of communities from across the globe, and you have a city whose culture is as varied as its people.

Music

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1920, is one of the finest orchestras in Europe. Under Simon Rattle in the 1980s and 1990s it became world famous, and it plays at Symphony Hall, a concert hall celebrated for its acoustics that opened in 1991.

The city's popular music heritage is just as strong. Black Sabbath formed in Aston, and Birmingham also gave the world ELO, Duran Duran, UB40, Steel Pulse and the Moody Blues. Live music venues, from the O2 Academy to small rooms in Digbeth, keep that tradition alive.

Dance and theatre

Birmingham Royal Ballet moved to the city from London in 1990 and is based at the Birmingham Hippodrome, one of the busiest theatres in the country, which also stages West End musicals and a famous Christmas pantomime.

The Birmingham Repertory Theatre, founded by Barry Jackson in 1913, is one of Britain's oldest producing theatres. It now shares a building with the Library of Birmingham on Centenary Square.

Art

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery holds the world's largest public collection of Pre-Raphaelite art, including works by Edward Burne-Jones, who was born in the city. The Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham has a remarkable collection of old masters, and the Ikon Gallery in Brindleyplace is a leading space for contemporary art.

In Digbeth, street art covers walls and railway arches, and the area hosts the City of Colours festival, which brings artists from around the world to paint new murals.

A city of many cultures

More than a century of migration has shaped Birmingham's culture. The city has large communities with roots in Ireland, the Caribbean, South Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and beyond, and their traditions are part of everyday life.

The balti was born in Birmingham. The St Patrick's Day parade in Digbeth is one of the largest in Britain. Vaisakhi celebrations fill Handsworth Park each spring, and Birmingham Pride is one of the biggest in the country. At Christmas, the Frankfurt Christmas Market brings German food and crafts to New Street and Victoria Square.

Writers and words

J R R Tolkien grew up in Birmingham, and the landscapes of his childhood around Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog are thought to have inspired the Shire. The city hosts a literature festival each autumn, and poets and spoken word performers are a big part of its creative life.

Where to start

A good first taste of Birmingham's culture is a concert at Symphony Hall, a visit to the Museum and Art Gallery and a walk around Digbeth to see the street art. From there, the city's festivals, theatres and neighbourhoods offer something new every week.