“100 Days of Creativity” Campaign Unites and Inspires Birmingham
11 November 2024
Photo credit: Colmore BID
Birmingham’s 100 Days of Creativity campaign, a transformative city-wide initiative, has wrapped up, celebrating an extraordinary summer of art, culture, and community.
Over 100 days of summer, starting in May 2024 and ending in August, thousands participated in diverse workshops, interactive exhibitions, and public art installations, showcasing Birmingham as a hub of inspiration and collective expression.
The campaign provided unique opportunities for residents and visitors to engage creatively, fostering a renewed sense of pride in Birmingham’s vibrant cultural identity. Over 200 events were promoted thanks to over 60 partner organisations, with an estimated 1m attendances at the 100 Days of Creativity events.
The 100 Days of Creativity campaign was led by City Curator, Alex Nicholson-Evans, a position funded by Colmore BID. She commented: “Birmingham is absolutely not lacking things to see and do, but in the run up to the summer, and in the midst of the negative stories circulating about the City Council’s financial position, it really struck me that we were missing a means to draw together the city’s incredibly strong creative programme, into a cohesive message that told the world that Birmingham is still a fantastic place to visit, live and work in.
“It felt more important than ever that we found a way to send a strong message that Birmingham is creative, innovative and resilient.”
The initiative featured local and international artists, drawing participants of all ages to venues and outdoor spaces across the city. The campaign boosted visibility for the region’s creative sector and created new opportunities for creative organisations to connect and collaborate.
92% of participating organisations felt that the campaign united Birmingham’s creative sector behind a common goal. One commenting: “100 Days of Creativity gave real purpose and a feeling of collaboration to Birmingham’s Culture sector at an otherwise challenging time.”
Becky Frall, Head of Tourism at West Midlands Growth Company added: “Visit Birmingham and the West Midlands was delighted to work with the team behind 100 Days of Creativity, who did a fabulous job curating the cultural activities across Birmingham over the summer. Using the regional ‘Culture & Tourism Connected’ platform enabled us to support the sector by using an existing digital platform, which is the legacy of a successful Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Project, and to highlight events to a wider audience.”
Reflecting on the campaign’s legacy and looking to the future, the city and the creative sector will continue to see the benefit of this campaign. Visit Birmingham’s social media pages grew by 1,000+ followers (a 22% on the previous year calendar period), and 73% of participating organisations reported they were likely to use the Visit Birmingham website platform in the future to list events. It also inspired Creativity Week for the region.
With a future City Curator project on the horizon in 2025, #100DaysofCreativity has set the foundations for the city’s united commitment to cultural vibrancy.
