This coming weekend sees the famous St Patrick’s Festival. The fun kicks off with a Festival Launch Party at The Irish Centre on Friday night, ‘a free evening of entertainment, dancing and a buffet’. To request tickets for the event email stpatricksbirmingham@gmail.com.
A Saturday of The Reel around The Bullring leads into the big Sunday parade, which starts with Mass at St Anne’s Church before the street parade and dancing around the St PatROCKs stage in South Birmingham College.
Post-weekend, the celebrations take a cultural turn with Irish film, literature and theatre events. NLP Theatre perform Singin` I’m No a Billy, He’s a Tim on Monday 15th March in The Paragon Hotel. On Tuesday 16th March you have a choice between an Irish Film Night at The Spotted Dog or a St Patrick’s Literary Festival at The Old Crown Inn. On St Patrick’s Day, Weds 17th March, Irish Storyteller Katrice Horsley will be weaving her magic at The Irish Centre, as will musicians John McNicholl and John Kiernan. Rather amazingly, all of these events are free.
We Are Eastside
Friction Arts' The Edge - part of We Are Eastside
Once you’ve recovered from the St Patrick’s festivities you’ve a little time to pause for breath before the launch of We Are Eastside on 27th March, ‘an online and printed guide to the artists, collectives, promoters and spaces helping to transform Birmingham’s industrial heartland into a thriving creative playground’. The weekend will be jam-packed, with the Flatpack Festival being joined by local arts organisations showcasing their wares.
On Friday there’s a Curtain Show at Eastside Projects whilst The Lombard Method goes all Cinematic on us. I personally will be striving to catch Monuments at Ikon Eastside and mischievous audio-visual antics Synth Eastwood: Fast Forward at The Rainbow Warehouse.
Supersonic 2009 - Capsule are leading We Are Eastside and I get to post a picture of someone's bum
Saturday promises to be rather magical, with the new Rhubarb East gallery opening with The Uses of Enchantment, ‘inspired by fables and fairy stories, nostalgia and psychology’ and Laterna Magicka at Ikon Eastside, which later hosts the new concert film Burning, featuring Mogwai. VIVID will be providing the late-night space to let your hair down, with an Eastside Plasticine Party of ‘Psychedelic claymation’ by Bruce Bickford, which I think I’ll need to see to understand.
If you’re still standing on Sunday there’s plenty going on, with Paul Sharit’s 70’s Flicker films at Ikon Eastside and Belbury Youth Club’s evening of haunted audio and creepy telly at VIVID. I love a good scare…
So there we have it – we can finally see an end to the long, bitter winter and taste spring in the air, with lashings of Guinness and culture in equal measure. Swap your winter coat for a fetching emerald green number and enjoy!
Written by Nicky Getgood on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 ( Start discussion )
Irish Heritage enjoyed the Epiphany on Wednesday 6th January with Irish culture, poetry and song. Here’s Vice Chair John MacIntyre’s round-up of the evening:
Birmingham Irish Heritage – An Epiphany
John Costello's evocative choice for talk and play.
On a freezing feast of the Epiphany, a hardy dozen souls from the normal 30 to 60, ventured out to the plushly refurbished Irish centre in Digbeth to enjoy and discuss Irish Poetry, Birmingham history, and listen to Irish Ballads. This night proved that regardless of harsh weather or other adversity, the Monthly Event of the Birmingham Irish Heritage Group will always take place at 7pm on the first Wednesday of every month at the Irish Centre in Digbeth.
There, three wise men brought gifts of the mind, to transcend all mere physical difficulties. First was Galway man John Costello who informed us about the tragic ballad Spancil Hill. Written on his deathbed by a 22 year old Clare man exiled in 19th Century America, which imagined him returning to Clare with his fortune made, in order to marry his sweetheart. John spoke of the Annual Horsefair and the scenic countryside, aided by wise woman Patricia Naylon who recounted the great times roaming around Spancil Hill and its neighbour Ennis in her youth. Then Christy Moore (who only became famous because the year long bank strike in 1970’s Tulla, in Clare meant he needed an income that he wasn’t receiving as a Bank Teller, and started singing) sang five verses of this lovely song.
Second was Mike Walsh who recited a published poem by Richard McIlkenny wrongly convicted and incarcerated for 17 years. One of the members correctly guessed the name of the person who had composed this largely ignored poem, born out of suffering. Mike also spoke about the Pete St John ballad ‘The Fields of Athenry’. This ballad tells the tragic tale of an 1845 famine victim transported to Australia, for taking bread to feed his starving family, which was excellently, sang by Paddy Reilly. Mike mentioned that the prominent Norman landowners in Athenry Galway were the De Berminghams, many of whom are buried in St Martins in the Bull Ring.
The magic of W B Yates poem, The Wild Swans at Coole.
Thirdly Frank Feeney a great great great Nephew of John Frederick Feeney, Victorian founder of the Birmingham Post and Mail, spoke about his early upbringing around Grange County Sligo. Frank also spoke about John Feeney’s good work on the Sligo Telegraph in the 1830’s and his promotion of Chartism in 1840’s Birmingham, plus his liaison with Viscount Palmerston to stop Slavery. Frank also spoke about the sterling work continued by John Feeney’s son, who helped establish Birmingham University. Then the renewal of the Gore Booth home Lissadell in County Sligo which inspired W.B.Yeats (2 girls in silk kimonos like Gazelles) by his cousin Miss Cassidy from Bundrowes River. That his friend Sheila Rhattigan now lives in The Marquis of Sligo’s hunting lodge in Cliffony.
Lastly John McIntyre read W.B Yeats Supernatural Poem ‘The host of the Air’ and explained that Yeats spent his summer holidays at his grandfather’s church at Drumcliffe Sligo, where he lies following his death in France. That Yeats heard it in the Irish from a Sligo woman, who attributed Bridal Vanishings to Abductions by lusty 500 year old fairy folk. Professor George 0’Briens discourse on Yeats inspirations were played for 10 minutes, explaining that when Yeats was in London he composed Lake Isle of Inisfree after that Lough Gill idyllic isle. Next Heritage Group Event 7pm Wednesday 3rd February upstairs in the Irish Centre. General public very welcome, admission and refreshments free.
I must say there seem to be some emerging common issues – Lighting, retention and reuse of historic buildings and Cash Points seem to be on most people’s list!
Tendai asked for some help with the ticket machine as he wasn’t sure of how to use it, so I helped him book an adult single ticket on the 3am coach to Coventry. Here he is holding it. He gave me his address and asked I send him a print of the photograph, which of course I will do.
As much as I love the sound of my own voice, I’ve decided it’s time Digbeth is Good had a few more voices for a bit of variety. The first new addition is the lovely John Mostyn, a music producer and local hero type based in the Custard Factory who drinks, gigs and revels in Digbeth. John is pretty passionate about the area and preserving its best bits, such as the Digbeth Civic Hall, which he saved from demolition. I can’t wait to read his first post (no pressure, mind).
I’m hoping to add a couple more to the mix over the next couple of weeks and will introduce each one with a suitable fanfare as they arrive.
You may notice Digbeth is Good is looking a little different, I hope you like the funky new theme. Many thanks to Michael Grimes for sweating and swearing over it for hours to make it work.
The third social media surgery for voluntary and community groups in Birmingham is next Wednesday, January 28th 2009 at BSVC 138 Digbeth, B5 6DR. Please feel free to drop in anytime between 5.30pm and 7pm where volunteers from the Birmingham bloggers group will show you how you can make best use of social media. It doesn’t matter if you are the head of communications at a major charity or an active citizen in your neighbourhood, if you’re at all curious come along.
Written by Nicky Getgood on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 ( Start discussion )
Digbeth Is Good will be a bit quiet for the next week, as I’m off on a National Trust holiday in Castle Ward, Northern Ireland. I must say I’m strangely looking forward to the prospect of a weeks’ worth of scrub clearance in the rain.
I’m not sure what, if any, internet access I’m going to get whilst I’m over there as I’m not taking my laptop. But I will be back with bells on in the first week of September and will get posting then.
