Birmingham is a big city, so it was great to see culture from all corners represented in the Big Culture Blog. While the City Centre might play host to the big events at the NIA or outdoors in spaces like Victoria Square, there are people doing it for themselves right across the city.
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Up to the north of the city in Streetly Jon Hickman spoke to Vanessa & Richard about how the New Streetly Youth Orchestra helps kids find a musical opportunity, and feed into other groups around Birmingham.

But if the contributions to the blog proved anything, it's that culture happens everywhere — allotments can be the heart of a community. This is Court Lane in Erdington.

     

Locally produced food was a theme too, Cllr Martin Mullaney was one of many to visit Moseley Farmer's Market on Saturday morning:

         

"For me, it is a monthly ritual – the food is great and it is a community event. I meet so many people that I may not see from month to month."

 

Schools and libraries are centres of culture too, a series of posts about events at Colmore Junior, Infant & Nursery were accompanied by some great pictures:

" I am an eighty-year old, with four children and seven grandchildren. They all  live in the UK, but a long way off, so e-mails are useful and fun…I'd like to send a picture of us all, studying and practicing, but I'm still learning!"

 

You can see even more of Birmingham's favourite culture spots on the City of Culture website as part of the 'Big Conversation'.

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It's no surprise that Birmingham is a hugely diverse city and that the Big Culture Blog would show evidence of culture that originated from all around the World. Here are some of our favourite examples:

Professor Black who organises all the dress-making and costumes for the Handsworth Carnival

Sampad (South Asian Arts) in their new building:

Great photos from The Drum.

Capoeira at Friends Institue, Moseley:

A mult-faith altar at Works Gallery for the ARTichoke exhibition

Bosnia House:

It’s a city of diversity, one of the most diverse in Europe certainly. All these cultures blending, the harmony of the place. I live and work in Birmingham and the nature of the city is that you come into contact with different cultures and so you get invited to celebrate at their carnival or diwali and that’s great.

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This has been the last in my 24 hour stint, and I loved every second
of it. I don't know if I can do my final hours justice via this video
so let me tell you this was so much fun.
Gatecrasher reminded me of how old I was - I didn't know kids danced
like that. Big thanks to Emma, who showed me the most love at the
door!!!
I wished we still had a shebeen to go to, where I could have heard
some old studio one sounds records, have curry goat and rice, and buy
a cold red stripe out of a bucket at 3 a.m.
The 4 am Project - what an amazing idea to get a group of
photographers into abstract places, then to have them do their
creative thing. I didn't know we had all of this going on in our city!
Finally, Big Brum Buz. Ian happens to be the best tour guide I have
heard! I felt such a connection without the city that there was a
downside - I wanted to know more about where i grew up (Handsworth
particularly).

Steve Mclean ( done without he 24 hr business)
One love

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After 24 hours, hundreds of emails and thousands and thousands of you joining in it's time to reflect on a big day of culture.

We'll post up any more interesting things that come through at some point (we know some people have been rushing home to upload things) but for now the Big Culture Blog team are all enjoying a well deserved rest. Thanks to everyone who emailed in their photos,video, sounds, or just experiences.

Keep up to date with all the news from the Birmingham City of Culture bid on the main website - birminghamculture.org, or the Facebook page, or the twitter stream (or all three!) 

Here's everything we could map:

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Today Balsall Heath Local History Society ran an exhibition of
hundreds of photographs of the annual Carnival which has run every
year since 1977. People came and identified some of the thousands of
faces on the photographs and shared their memories of things that
happened . There will be a touring exhibition based on this, which
will be premiered at this year's Carnival in July.

chris sutton

       

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Click here for a bit of hospital and care culture in the City of
Birmingham’s Hodge hill constituency:

Adrian Johnson

Birmingham poet laureate 2009/2010

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Adrian Johnson

Birmingham poet laureate 2009/2010

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Adrian Johnson

Birmingham poet laureate 2009/2010

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Friday morning saw me cycle along the canal from Edgbaston to Gas
Street basin and I bought the first edition of The Birmingham
Press.Later in the afternoon I finished reading John Carey's The
Intellectuals and the Masses,a book borrowed from our excellent
Central library.
This afternoon my wife and I will visit the Botanical Gardens which is
a short walk from our home.No matter how many times we visit we always
find something new of interest-and we visit on a regular basis.
Tonight we will eat out at Regards in Chad Square(excellent Asian
restaurant) and tomorrow I will tell my son who is at university in
London what he is missing when I speak with him on the telephone

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Adrian Johnson

Birmingham poet laureate 2009/2010

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