Adrienne from We are Frilly alerted us to these events happening in the Jewellery Quarter this weekend:

Jewellery Quarter Festival Friday 22 – Sunday 24 July

Starting Friday 22 July at 4pm with an after work party, this three-day festival celebrates the unique blend of heritage and thriving creative innovation in this quirky corner of Birmingham. The weekend will see a host of activities, music, live acts and performances hosted on the Quarter’s newest public space, the Golden Square; also on St Paul’s Square, the last Georgian square in Birmingham and home to the Grade I listed St Paul’s Church.

Open Studios Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 July

Open Studios is your chance to discover what today’s Jewellery Quarter is really about. For this weekend only you will be welcomed inside the world of designer-makers, be given the opportunity to meet and chat with the people behind the businesses, see demonstrations and maybe even try your hand at what they do.

More information over on the Jewellery Quarter’s website.

With suitable weather upon us, this weekend Summer in Southside brings the seaside to the city.

Over the weekend, experience a vibrant carnival atmosphere where Hurst Street will be transformed with seaside sights, sounds and silliness. Be swept away by nautical encounters from a cod choir, deep-sea divers and even some pirates.

Play on wooden street games, dive into the mouth of an enormous whale, enjoy street acrobatics, a marching band with a difference and much, much more.

The festival takes place from 12-5pm on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 July. The programme can be found here.

Yarningham is a new yarn festival produced by Stitches and Hos, Brum’s motley crew of enthusiasts for all things knitted, crocheted and stitched. Taking place over the weekend of 16 and 17 July at Stirchley Baths, it will feature stalls from independent yarn producers from across the UK…and two live alpacas (called Cookies and Cream).

To compliment the marketplace, Yarningham will also include a programme of workshops for visitors. Learn how to knit socks, or even how to spin your own yarn. It will also feature demonstrations from the Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild.

Yarningham will be open from 11am-5pm with day tickets available for £5 (+ booking fee) in advance or £7 on the door.

More information on Yarningham can be found here.

• An open day at Moseley Road Baths.
• Tours of the Gun Barrel Proof House.
• Tolkien Tour of Birmingham with Two Towers Brewery.
• City Centre Historic Pub Walk.

The full programme can be found here.

Running until Saturday 18 June, City Camp is a festival exploring the theme of city futures and the future of Birmingham. It is an open festival – anyone can pitch an idea to be part of the programme, thus recognising that we all have a role to play in feeding into the city’s dialogue and unleashing positive solutions.

Events include:

• Build your own film night, a masterclass from Flatpack Assemble.
• Ministry of Data – Rave with some dodgy data. Over dancing, drinks and DJs, consider today’s Big Question: To Brexit or to Bremain?
• Art Against the Grain – an evening of spoken word, discussion and debate exploring Diversity and Decolonisation.

The full programme can be found here and also includes workshops & hack days, talks & panels, masterclasses, learning circles, art & performance and themed dinners.

Next week as part of International Dance Festival Birmingham, PechaKucha Birmingham present vol.14 of their events series.

There’s been four speakers announced, of a dance and movement theme:

• Iris Bertz, an interpreter and visual arts producer, says “somehow dance has always been part of my life, but only recently I have discovered how important it is.” Her talk is titled Dance is Happiness.
• Jaivant Patel is a dance artist, cultural producer and choreographer from Wolverhampton who’s be talking about his success engaging communities in South Asian dance in parallel with my own journey as an independent dance artist.
• Richard Battye has worked as a photographer in Birmingham for 26 years and has carved a niche photographing dancers. He’ll talk about his technique and his landmark exhibition Still Dancing.
• Julia Gilbert is a big fan of dance and music and will talk about the inextricable links between them, along with exciting examples of emerging technology that is enabling the creation of music through movement.

Tickets are available via tito.

From Wednesday 11 to Saturday 14 May, head to Centenary Square for Live Nights – four nights of free spectacular performances. Performances will start at 6pm and Digbeth Dining Club will also be offering food.

Each night will culminate in a perfomance of The Machine Show, a brand new production featuring outstanding international dance artists Aakash Odedra, Melanie Lomoff and Spider Salah, with incredible live music from rock band rinôçérôse. A great chance to get a taste of contemporary dance and all that the festival celebrates.

Arts Forum Selly Oak’s annual festival Art SOAK returns to the Selly Oak district with a programme of performances, walks and workshops.

We’re opening with a bang in the shiny new Stirchley Baths with Pilot Nights – an evening of new work by theatre makers from across the country.  It promises to be fun! We have a host of walks created by some of the City’s leading ‘walk creators’, high quality workshops by experienced artists & companies, the launch of a new film by Reel Access, storytelling and the Birmingham debut of ‘Helen’s Story’ created and performed by Francesca Millican-Slater.  Join us & enjoy some arts on your doorstep.

Full programme on www.artsforumsellyoak.wordpress.com.

This year’s festival kicks off slightly later than usual (19-24 April) and is a little shorter than previous editions. However, it will feature the same cinematic fun and games that is known and loved for.

A couple of this year’s highlights:

Vampyr – One of cinema’s landmarks, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s mesmerising horror Vampyr (1932), accompanied live by four-piece multi-instrumentalists Minima and film pianist Stephen Horne.

Oh Dear Diary – Brace yourself for an evening of angst-ridden, cringe-inducing, revealing and often unintentionally hysterical real life stories, as a group of volunteers read aloud from their teenage diaries.

Pierre Bastien – Textured looping soundscapes made from Meccano parts, motors, fans, and rattles + trumpet.A treat for the eyes and ears.

Sound and Vision – A mesmerising live AV triple-bill using lamps, lenses, modified record players, looping records and found objects. Those taking an analogue approach to their craft on the night include Amsterdam-based duo Optical Machines, sound artist Graham Dunning and Berlin-based artist collective Transforma with musician/composer PC NAKT.

The full programme will be online in the next few weeks.

As part of the British Animation Awards, several voting screenings are taking place across the country to decide their Public Choice Award. This is your chance to select your favourite films from some of the best animated short films and music videos made over the past two years.

Three programmes will take place over three evenings from 8-10 February at The Mockingbird Theatre in the Custard Factory. All screenings are free.

More information on the screenings can be found here.