Featured Image: Jim Killock/CC BY-SA 2.0/Edited for size
Live Nation is plotting to hold a four-day cultural event in Birmingham over the August Bank Holiday from Friday 23 to Monday 26 of that month.
The entertainment company has applied to Birmingham City Council for a licence to stage music, dancing, films, and plays as well as to sell alcohol in Centenary Square later this year. No details of which artists could perform have yet been released though.
If it is given permission, the events would be held from 5pm to 10:30pm each day for a capacity of up to 4,999 people.
“Live Nation are top drawer when it comes to promoting and will get the very best. Centenary Square is a meeting place for people to come and enjoy themselves,” said Birmingham’s Westside Business Improvement District manager Mike Olley.
“It’s good that the private sector have stepped in and will do this in a safe and enjoyable manner. I know it’s going to be good.”
Centenary Square is bordered by the Symphony Hall, International Convention Centre, Repertory Theatre and Library of Birmingham and is thought to be one of the city’s most popular gathering places.
A deadline of March 4 has been set for any public objections to be made about the application.
Details of the application have been released following the Chinese New Year celebrations in the city which are said to have been hugely successful.
Last year Centenary Square hosted Birmingham Festival 23 which was held to celebrate a year since the 2022 Commonwealth Games, also held in Birmingham.
“The vision for Birmingham’s Centenary Square was for it to exist as a public space for entertainment like this, and I think it is a tribute to the private sector that they are trying to help attract people to such a major event,” Olley added.
“We wish them all the best with their application and want to welcome them to Westside for what could be a great live concert.”
In addition to its festival hosting ambitions, Live Nation is also seeking to help people launch careers in the music industry.
The company has partnered with the Black Music Action Coalition to launch an intensive music business course and paid internship programme.
The aim is to provide industry newcomers with insight and the technical skills required to bring a show to the stage.
It is targeting young people who are not going to university an all expenses paid trip to Los Angeles for the one-week course. After that, each participant will be offered a four-month paid internship at Live Nation.
A group of participants will also be selected to join Live Nation’s new ‘School of Live Apprenticeship Program’ for additional training, as well as a six-month paid apprenticeship and potential for long term job placement.
Share this