Express & Star

Successful return for Summer In Southside

Celebrating 50 years since the first moon landing, Birmingham Hippodrome hosted its annual, family festival, Summer in Southside.

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Summer In Southside

Figures show an immense increase in the attendance of the event from last year when 11,700 people attended in comparison last weekend's event where a staggering 37,000 people attended.

Many performances and activities from local and international artists were showcased in last weekend's festival, they all explored the wonder and curiosity of Outer Space.

The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s sci-fi tunes opened the festival on the Saturday, creating an astronomical atmosphere.

Highly Sprung's Urban Astronaut, a walkabout physical performance featuring an astronaut suspended 20 feet in the air, mesmerised the audience.

Visitors witnessed an asteroid crash land in Southside with scientific police exploring the aftermath in the UK premiere of Campi Qui Pugui’s Asteroid.

Attendees seeking a more tranquil experience had the opportunity to relax on beanbags and listened to Gobbledegook Theatre's Cloudscapes and effectively cloudgazed.

On Saturday afternoon, crowds sang happy birthday to Birmingham Hippodrome under the moon as part of the venue’s 120th birthday celebrations, with a celebratory cake shared with festival-goers.

Graham Callister, director of festivals at Birmingham Hippodrome commented: “Summer in Southside is a real highlight for the team here and it was a fantastic weekend seeing so many families join us to celebrate 50 years since the first moon landing.

"For the first year we expanded activity further across the city working with Bullring and Grand Central to make the festival bigger than ever before, and we’re already planning to make next year’s event our most spectacular yet”.

Danielle Bozward, marketing manager at Bullring & Grand Central, added: “We had a fantastic weekend hosting Summer in the City as part of the Summer in Southside event.

"Our visitors were amazed by the Heliosphere performance, which took place in Rotunda Square alongside the iconic Rotunda building, and enjoyed interacting with the various performances that roamed the centre including Silent Rocco’s Lostronaut and the Close Act iPuppets.

“The event certainly brought the whole city to life in celebration of the Moon Landings’ 50th anniversary and we were thrilled to be a destination.”