Birmingham’s renaissance as a hub of world culture, events and commerce confirms the
city’s prominence as a global destination for both business and leisure visitors. Award
winning restaurants and hotels, the arrival of the UK’s leading fashion retailers, arts and
festivals have combined with the city’s cosmopolitan culture to transform Birmingham
into one of Europe’s leading city centres.
Birmingham Bites
For a taste of the Caribbean, indulging a passion for the Italian life or tantalising your
tastebuds in Thailand, look no further than the city of Birmingham. Lovers of international
cuisine can taste the whole world in one city with a diverse range of award winning
restaurants, markets, foodhalls and cookery courses.
One of Birmingham’s two Michelin star restaurants, Simpsons, is leading the way in
European fine dining and visitors can master their culinary skills at the restaurant’s own
l’ecole de cuisine.
Simpsons’ l’école de cuisine runs a varied range of day courses for absolute beginners
and gastronomic gurus. During the class tutor Charlotte Barr, an Egon Ronay Student
Chef of the Year, runs an informal demonstration with participation from guests of
classic starters, mains and dessert courses. Guests are also provided with a cookery
pack, including all the information on the dishes and a list of reliable suppliers. At the
end of the session, the class enjoys a three-course meal in the restaurant, with specially
selected wines and an informative lesson from the sommelier about the chosen wines.
Simpsons’ l’école de cuisine is £90 per guest, with no more than 10 people per class.
1 Birmingham – we love our sport
A world class sporting city, Birmingham was the first ever city to be awarded the title
‘National City of Sport’ and has hosted more world and European championships than
anywhere else in the UK. In 2007, Birmingham will play host to one of Europe’s leading
sporting events, the European Athletics Indoor Championships, which will be staged at
the NIA from 2-4 March. More than 600 athletes from around 50 countries will be
taking part in the event, the most significant international athletics championships to be
staged in Great Britain before the London 2012 Olympics.
With this year’s football season well underway, the city of Birmingham has the sport all
wrapped up with its new Beautiful Game football packages. Whether you’re a fan of
Premier League Aston Villa or Championship club Birmingham City, you will be on-side in
Birmingham all weekend with the new football packages from Marketing Birmingham.
For Aston Villa fans, the package is a chance to see the effects of new American
billionaire owner Randy Lerner and the appointment of the UK’s most desired manager
Martin O’Neill. It includes return transfers from the city centre, a pre-match buffet
lunch, a complimentary match day programme and an escorted tour of Villa Park before
kick off. At Birmingham City, with an escorted stadium tour of St Andrews, viewing of
the match from the stands and a return transfer into Birmingham city centre, the
package provides an opportunity to experience the city which is fast becoming Europe’s
number one sporting destination.
If you’ve got it flaunt it
Local supermodel Erin O’Connor was the celebrity face launching Marketing
Birmingham’s fashion campaign earlier this year. Birmingham's position as one of the
finest shopping centres in Europe has been assured in recent years thanks to multimillion
pound centres such as the £500m Bullring and The Mailbox.
Shopping in Birmingham has been revolutionised with the magnificent Bullring where
visitors can tempt themselves in the biggest city centre shopping destination Britain has
to offer. Selfridges, Massimo Dutti, Karen Millen, Reiss, Yo Sushi and the Veuve Clicquot
Champagne Bar are just a few of the many excellent shops and restaurants that make
up this brilliant cosmopolitan area of the city centre. The super chic Mailbox has flagship
stores Harvey Nicks, DKNY and Armani; Louis Vuitton and House of Fraser also add
touches of glamour through the city.
In addition to the many independent shops including those housed within the eclectic
Custard Factory, Birmingham also possesses a genuinely unique Jewellery Quarter,
where beautiful hand-crafted jewellery can be purchased or special designs can be
commissioned. The historic village-like Quarter is 'home' to well over 500 jewellery
businesses operating in surroundings which date back over 250 years.
Birmingham in tune with '2007 - The Year of Elgar'
Birmingham will be joining in the nation-wide celebrations to mark '2007 –
The Year of Elgar', and will once again have the opportunity to show the world that, in
Symphony Hall, it boasts the finest concert hall in Britain.
Born in the small village of Lower Broadheath outside Worcester in 1857, Edward Elgar
had a long and productive relationship with the city of Birmingham. In 1905, he was
appointed Peyton Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham. In 1917 the first
part of his Spirit of England was premiered in Birmingham, and in 1920 conducted the
first Town Hall concert by the new City of Birmingham Orchestra.
During the course of 2007 both Symphony Hall and the City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra (CBSO) will be providing some of the highlights of 'The Year of Elgar'
celebrations. Symphony Hall's International Concert Season will feature an Elgar 150th
Anniversary Concert on April 14, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by one of
today's foremost Elgarians, Sir Andrew Davis.
The CBSO's Elgar 150th : The Dream of Gerontius, The Apostles and The Kingdom are
scheduled to be performed at Symphony Hall over the weekend of Elgar's 150th birthday,
on June 1 when conductor Sakari Oramo will conduct three great choruses, ten worldclass
soloists and the Orchestra which Elgar himself helped found, in the great choral
triptych that he wrote for Birmingham.
A complete listing of CBSO and Symphony Hall concerts planned to mark the 150th
anniversary, between March and June 2007 is available at www.symphonyhall.co.uk.
For more information, or to book a shortbreak to the city,call Marketing Birmingham on
0870 225 0127 or go to www.visitbirmingham.com.
To unleash your tastebuds on Birmingham, restaurant listings, the latest foodie events
and offers, sink your teeth into www.birminghambites.com.
ENDS
For further press information and images, or to discuss media visits:
Trudi Dunlop, PR manager, Marketing Birmingham
T : 0121 202 5001 / 07931 555 771 or email us.
Notes to Editors:
This project is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
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