Birmingham 2022 Legacy

Birmingham 2022 Festival identified a range of key outcomes that will contribute to the legacy of the Festival, such as continuing to change perceptions of Birmingham and the West Midlands, including an International Festival for Birmingham, a programme of work to build on the successful creative approach to heritage demonstrated through the Festival, continuing to diversify audiences and artists in the region and development work to support freelancers and artists as they continue to recover from the pandemic.

Culture Central has been identified as the Birmingham 2022 Festival Legacy partner and will take forward these recommendations in partnership with funders and stakeholders in the region.

Legacy Delivery Strands:

  • three people acting in a play on stage

    CCG Legacy Development Programme

    Culture Central was approached by the Birmingham 2022 Festival and Birmingham City Council to explore ways of assisting the Creative City Grantees based on evaluation learnings and legacy outcomes.

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  • Diverse Artists, Diverse Audiences (DADA)

    We explored the relationship between diverse artists and audiences within the legacy outcomes and theory of change of the Birmingham 2022 Festival and assessed the festival's success in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts, through a series of ‘Radical Listening’ sessions and a ‘Critical Dialogue’ event.

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  • Cultivate Heritage

    In this strand of the programme, supported organisations design and pitch creative projects which explore and celebrate the heritage of communities across Birmingham and the West Midlands. Through Cultivate Heritage, we raised awareness about The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s new grant funding programme which was launched in January 2024.

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Birmingham Festival 23 Report

Birmingham Festival 23 was the official one-year anniversary festival for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Proudly outdoors and free-to-access, the festival aimed to echo the city-centre experience of the Games, taking over Centenary Square with live music and performance, creative and participatory activities, and big-screen content to conjure the shared moments, magic, and memories of 2022. With a nod to the future, it also sought to platform and showcase the city’s talent, diversity, and creativity.

Culture Central has been a proud supporter and strategic adviser to Birmingham Festival 2023. We relished seeing the people of Birmingham and the West Midlands come out to celebrate one year since the Commonwealth Games came to the region and we're pleased to share this evaluation of the festival demonstrating a positive impact on the city.

Below you can find the independent evaluation report. This report was researched and written by FRY Creative Consulting (FRY). It represents a 6-month collaboration with Birmingham Festival 23 to map out, measure and evaluate the impact of the Festival.

The report is published in a written long-form document, as a visual summary, and as a large-text document.

Click the links below to download a report.

Header image: Andy Moore/Tappin’ In.