Colmore BID’s ‘Christmas in Birmingham’ round-up

This year, people have travelled from near and far to celebrate Christmas in Birmingham.

The District has been filled with festive joy through various local Christmas events and markets and so we wanted to round up some of our top, festive highlights from the city in 2022.

‘Christmas in Cathedral Square’

Running for its second year, Birmingham saw the fabulous return of our award-winning ‘Christmas in Cathedral Square’ market. Filling Cathedral Square with a wide range of new, Midland-based traders each week, the market was popular with locals and visitors shopping at a variety of independent food and drink, gifts and crafts stalls.

To launch ‘Christmas in Cathedral Square’ we had the pleasure of witnessing the Christmas light switch on, hosted by special guests including Birmingham City Councillor Jayne Francis, Glynn Purnell, Chef at Michelin star restaurant Purnell’s and Andrew Ryan, the Dame at Dick Whittington, this year’s festive pantomime!

The Christmas light switch-on was covered live by Big City Radio to get those that couldn’t attend in-person into the Christmas spirit and we were joined by The Dean of St Philips Cathedral Birmingham who blessed the market on the opening night.

‘Christmas in Cathedral Square’ was the perfect way to get everyone into the festive spirit, whether that was by raising a glass at the renowned ‘Pigeon in the Park’ pub, treating loved ones to bespoke gifts from our traders or enjoying live music from a selection of local artists.

This year, visitors were able to enjoy a new, second pub at ‘Christmas in Cathedral Square’ which was named ‘Bab’s Tap’ through a competition in partnership with BirminghamLive.

The market has been a great way for us to showcase all that our city has to offer and has been well complemented by the annual Frankfurt Christmas Market, located on New Street and Victoria Square.

Brum’s Big Wheel, Ice Skate and Penguin Parade

This year the ‘Big Wheel’ also made a return to Centenary Square, where visitors were able to soak up the scenic skylines of Birmingham, along with hallmark buildings such as the Library of Birmingham, Town Hall and Britain’s largest German Christmas market.

Neighbouring with the ‘Big Wheel’ was Birmingham’s outdoor skating rink, creating the perfect wintery activity for family and friends to enjoy.

Encouraging visitors to explore all aspects of the city, Central BID’s Penguin Parade and City Map detailed a 15-penguin sculpture trail, two of which were sponsored by Colmore Business District, designed by artists, where individuals could donate to Birmingham Children’s Hospital via a QR code. We funded two penguins which were located at ‘Christmas at Cathedral Square’ and at Church Street Square to incentivise visitors to come and explore the District.

The sculpture trail followed on from the Commonwealth Games, where 18 statues of ‘Perry’ the multi-coloured bull mascot were placed around the city for tourists to follow.

The Ladywood Project and Food Bank donations

Lastly, we wanted to collectively say a huge thank you to all of those that have donated to great causes this year, especially The Ladywood Project and Food Bank donations. Your generosity has gone a very long way to help those who are less fortunate this Christmas and your donations have made a huge difference.

The Food Bank donations have been distributed by both First Class Foundations and the Ladywood Community Project to families in need of support this Christmas.

In addition to food donations, we also partnered with Dishoom and the Ladywood Community Project to provide 18 children with a magical Christmas breakfast and a visit from Father Christmas himself! Again, we would like to thank everyone that donated, which allowed us to gift each child with a small toy and some warm pyjamas. Thank you to DWF, Gensler, Squire Patton Boggs and Liquid PR for their generous donations.

We look forward to supporting more great causes in 2023 and helping local charities. So, from everyone at Colmore BID, thank you so much and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

To find out what’s next for Colmore BID, click here.