When: Saturday 2nd June, 12:00 noon onwards

High Rides and Low Tides will be the first of eight group exhibitions of original works by Brothers of the Stripe, an artist collective consisting of Stephen Chan, Joel Millerchip, Kristian Jones, FiST, The Cloud Commission, Iain Sellar, Will Scobie, Mr The Beef and Patrick Schmidt.

The show will aim to bring together a mix of individual illustration styles and a unique visual take on imaginative rides via land and sea. Originals, limited edition prints and more will be on display.

In addition, there will also be live drawing, live screen printing by Get a Grip and live music. Click here to read more about the event on Facebook.

High Rides

Acoustic Bites returns to the Bay Leaf on Sunday 3rd June.

Join in with an afternoon of live acoustic music in a chilled atmosphere with some fine singers, songwriters, musicians and spoken word artists, accompanied by fresh coffee, beers, wines, and bangladelicious bites.

As ever, kids are more than welcome, with the Custard Factory’s courtyard safe for scooters, skateboards and running about!

The Bench 504 graffiti shop in the Custard Factory has put their unique sofa up for sale, customised by numerous artists over the last year.

This is your opportunity to own a unique piece of Digbeth memorabilia… shame I don’t have room for it!

The Bench 504 shop is open Tuesday to Saturday, selling a comprehensive range of specialist graffiti gear.

The Bay Leaf is looking forward to welcoming Jamie McGrane’s photography exhibition later this month. Jamie has been a proud Mod since 1984, and will share this passion using his amazing photography.

This is set to be the coolest arts launch ever, so make sure to pop down to the Bay Leaf to check out his work!

This is part of Bay Leaf’s commitment to promote local artist with free exhibition space – get in touch if you would like to display your work.

The Bay Leaf restaurant in Digbeth’s Custard Factory is hosting a live music event tomorrow, Saturday 12th May. The event is intended to take place outside, busker-style, in front of the restaurant. The Bay Leaf’s owner, Aftab Rahman, is a great supporter of local music, and has really engaged with local musicians through regular jazz and acoustic nights at his restaurant.

The music is being organised by local musician, Ronan Fitzgerald, from the band Nerve Centre. Ronan is no stranger to music events in Digbeth, having played a sold out gig at the HMV Institute with Nerve Centre, regularly hosting gigs at the Adam and Eve, and organising the music at last summer’s Digbeth Fun Day.

• Jimmy Eff: the solo acoustic alter-ego of Nerve Centre lead guitarist, James Foster.
• Kris Halpin: singer songwriter from Tamworth.
• Dennis: acoustic duo playing lively originals and covers.

The music starts at 1pm.  If the weather doesn’t want to be nice, the music will be moved into the restaurant.  With the Vintage Fair taking place in the Custard Factory at the time, it promises to be a fun and busy event.

After being inundated with entrants from a bevy of Birmingham’s finest beauties they took on the hard task of choosing the two lucky winners; Emily Jones, of Streetly, and Simon Lee, of Sutton Coldfield. The two new faces, who are both new to the modelling world, will front Urban Village’s Spring/Summer collection.

Urban Village are now organising the first photo shoot which will be taking place around Digbeth (when the weather picks up), including psychedelic mannequins on scooters – all shall be revealed soon!

When: Friday 19th to Sunday 21st October 2012
Where: various locations in Digbeth, centred around the Custard Factory

For one weekend each year, Digbeth’s arches vibrate with strange, wonderful sounds as the Custard Factory becomes the focal point for Supersonic Festival, one of the UK’s most distinctive and respected music festivals.

2012 marks the ten year anniversary of this dynamic, constantly challenging, experimental, multi-disciplinary arts festival, which identifies the otherwise indescribable connections between experimental music, art, performance and film.

This year will see performances from:

Lichens / Dylan Carlson / Zeni Geva / JK Flesh / Carlton Melton / Tim Hecker / Dope Body / Rangda / Flower-Corsano Duo / Six Organs of Admittance / Sir Richard Bishop / Goat and a Small but Hard label showcase featuring DJ Scotch Bonnet

Early bird tickets sold out in record time this year, but weekend tickets are still available here; a full line-up is available on the Supersonic Festival website.

When: Wednesday 9th May, 10:00 – 15:00

In 2010, one in five children left primary school below the average literacy level expected of 11-year- olds. Volunteer Reading Help (VRH) is a charity that provides training and support for volunteers who want to inspire children to read.

The Birmingham branch of the charity is based in the Custard Factory, and will be holding interviews for new volunteers at their offices on Wednesday between 10:00 and 15:00.

Volunteers are asked to go into a school twice a week for 90 minutes each time to spend half an hour with each of the three children they support, for a minimum of 12 months. For your time, you will receive training and ongoing support but will need to be CRB checked and provide two references.

For more information, visit the VRH website or contact Branch Manager Eileen on 0845 450 0336.

Readers of DiG are officially invited to attend ‘It Chose Me’, an exhibition by upcoming young visual artist Alexandria, as she unveils some of her latest work.

Alex is a contemporary artist who paints and photographs nature, buildings, people and furniture. She draws influences from cubism, Bauhaus and the natural world.

Come along and be entertained by live music and food in a relaxed atmosphere. Bay Leaf is committed to promoting local artists by providing free exhibition space – get in touch via their website if you would like to display your work.

For further details, email or tweet Alexandria, or check out the Facebook page by clicking the image below.

The Custard Factory’s Green Man came in top, with the city’s JFK mural which is currently being restored, in 9th place.

Just another reason why Digbeth is Good!

Green Man. Image: Birmingham Mail.