UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 04 MAY 2017
Are you coming to Birmingham this May?
We’re here to let you know everything you can be getting up to over the next four weeks.
This including all the details you need to make sure any half term (29 May - 2 June) plans you have go off without a hitch!
Festivals
With summer rapidly approaching, festival season is starting to pick up pace. May's offering starts with the brand new Independant Birmingham Festival on 13 May. Spun out of the wildly successful Independent Birmingham scheme, which looks to promote the best in independent retailers in the area, the IB festival will take place in Digbeth. It's pop-up shop style will bring together the cities best restaurants, bars and designers, with an extensive live music programme too.
The following weekend from 19 to 21 May, the second annual B-Side Hip Hop Festival takes over the Hippodrome. This celebration of all things hip-hop will see local, national and international dancers and singers take to the stage for free performances on all three days. There are also £10 workshops to help you fine tune your skills as well.
You'll also have the unique chance to walk with dinosaurs from 20 May, when the Jurassic Kingdom tour comes to Birmingham Botanical Garden through to June 4! Equally out there is the Pint of Science series running between 15 to 17 May, wherein leading scientists from Birmingham and Beyond come to pubs to discuss their latest ideas and research. Our own Alex de Ruyter, head of the Centre for Brexit Studies, will be talking on Brexit on May 17 at the Gunmakers arms.
The first music festival of the year takes place on 27 May with Slam Dunk fest eminating from the Genting Arena and the NEC. Enter Shikari are headling this year, with Don Broco, Bowling For Soup, Neckdeep, Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish and Deaf Havana joining them across the eight-stage all day festival.
Wrapping things up is one of the staples of the Birmingham social calendar, Birmingham Pride. The final weekend of the month (27 and 28 May) will see Birmingham's Gay Village play host to the largest two day LGBT festival in the UK, which last year attacted 75,000 visitors. Highlights include the massive Pride Parade, and the two day music festival, which this year will see the likes of Boney M, Basement Jaxx, Gabrielle, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Jamelia, and Birmingham City University's own Capital B!
Gigs and Shows
Here is a handy guide to a tonne of music, comedy and exhibition shows that you could check out in May.
Birmingham City University
Coming to the end of your degree, and starting to think about Graduate Jobs? On May 30, in the Curzon building, there is a workshop that may just be able to help you get ahead. The Applying for Graduate Jobs event is free for BCU students and alumni, and aims to help you:
- Gain a better understanding of the types of graduate jobs that are available – from Graduate schemes in large organisations, to graduate level roles within SMEs (small to medium enterprises).
- Understand the recruitment timeline for graduate jobs and graduate schemes.
- Identify resources that will assist with your search.
- Understand what to expect from the graduate recruitment process
- Identify and plan your next steps to apply for graduate schemes.
Elsewhere this month, Julian Lloyd Webber will host the Birmingham Philharmonic Concerto Final, the culmination of a competition that 50 Conservatoire students took part in. And as we mentioned above, Alex de Ruyter from the Centre of Brexit Studies will be talking at the Pint of Sciences series on May 17.
Going to any of these events? Let us know!