I’ve been involved with music events for around 12 years in the city, and a keen and very wide interest in it’s nightlife and creative sectors, and I have always got the impression that the things that are promoted by the council (which are most likely to be the ones picked up by people outside of brum)are always stuff that only appeals to a certain demograph of people, and is the not stuff that i feel makes our city great.

By this i refer to Broad street (and it’s walk of fame?), the shopping centres, and the focus on local fete’s, museums, and exhibitions, some of which are excellent, but ultimately not culturally grabbing if you just landed.

I have also found some great vibrant stuff that is backed by the council too, such as our fabulous cbso at the fine symphony hall, or the always innovative bham opera company (is that promoted through their channels too?), and i’ve attended a fair few gigs at the larger venues in brum like the N.I.A and the town hall.

Its just for the most part, these type of things tend to attract certain demographs of the population, and most of the culture that i have experienced in and from this city, which to me makes me very proud to live here, is largely found in different venues and from the local promoters who seemingly are never mentioned by council and city run promotion…

Why?

Is it that they dont like or agree with it, or that they dont know or understand it?

If i was to visit from another city or country, and was greeted with the stuff i could find in the tourist office, then i would miss all the stuff that makes Birmingham a great place to live in.

Then maybe its like that in all cities. You find someone, they show you a place, you meet other people there, you find more places, etc.

And is this a necessary thing anyway? Does a city need to have that divide between it’s “underground” scene to it’s publicised council backed events in order for the underground and creative scene to flourish?

I may be veering off the point a little here, but it seems that if Birmingham is wanting to promote and develop itself as the culturally rich and creatively diverse city it is, then working with it’s existing people, businesses (and creatives) in a supportive and not obstructive way, (and taking a few risks with that if need be), would be a much more positive way forward and could potentially produce much better results than pursuing and building this slick shopping centre/ expensive apartment style vision of the city centre, which seems to have proven itself time and time again to not effectively represent it’s people or diversity, and more importantly has great potential to drive away exactly what makes this city great.

I would also like to see the cultural association with Birmingham Irish people defended and maintained. At the moment the so called influence of the Irish Quarter development is in the hands of the same sort of people that ran the Irish Centre into the ground. It is the 2nd generation children of Irish immigrants that should have the big say in what happens in the IQ as there is no large scale immigration from Ireland anymore.