"We recognise that we need to offer something for everyone!"
Birmingham City University (BCU) is set to make cultural history as it partners with the prestigious Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) to host its first-ever UK edition in Birmingham.
The four-day ‘Mini Edition’, taking place over the May Bank Holiday weekend (23–26 May), will celebrate South Asian arts, music, dance and culture, and showcase the creativity and talent of BCU’s vibrant community.
Stephen Maddock, Principal of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, explained what inspired BCU to bring this major event to the city.
“Our chair, Anita Bhalla, had visited the festival in Goa and was massively impressed by the range and quality of what was on offer.
“When we heard that the SAF team was looking to bring the festival to the UK, we knew we had to be first in the queue!”
The collaboration with SAF strongly reflects BCU’s values and ongoing mission to champion arts, inclusivity and cultural engagement.
“BCU’s mission is to be an anchor institution for this region, and ever since its founding, the arts have been central to this mission,” Maddock said.
“In the case of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, we have played a key role in Birmingham’s cultural life right back to the 1880s, and today we welcome musicians and actors from all around the world to be trained here and take their skills into a wide range of career choices.
“And as one of the UK’s most diverse universities, in the UK’s youngest and one of its most diverse cities – well, we recognise that we need to offer something for everyone!”
Birmingham’s own rich multicultural identity makes it the perfect home for a festival of this kind.
Maddock added: “There is already a large audience for South Asian cultural events here, and also so many South-Asian led arts organisations as well as strong programmes in other major venues such as Symphony Hall (where we have several events in the festival), the Rep, the Hippodrome and the MAC.”
With a programme of standout performances and curated experiences, the festival promises an unforgettable celebration of tradition and contemporary expression.
“The biggest highlight for me will be to see and hear the amazing 80-strong RBC Folk Ensemble playing on the stage of Symphony Hall for the first time in the ensemble’s 27-year history,” Maddock said.
“They offer incredible energy and joy in their performances and are a great ambassador for RBC.
“Our new Banda Brasileira offer a great showcase of some of our Jazz students.
“And we have recently started using our Eastside Jazz Club for comedy nights, so it’s great that we are welcoming the brilliant Shazia Mirza to headline this for us.”
Selecting the artists and curators to represent BCU was a collaborative and carefully timed process.
“It was a lot of conversations! We had to work around students’ busy diaries, especially at the ‘sharp end’ of the academic year, with end-of-year recitals and assessments to be fitted in,” Maddock noted.
“But our festival manager, Dan Whitfield, who planned 15 editions of the world-famous Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk, has done a great job pulling it all together.”
The partnership with SAF brings more than just performances. It creates a space for international dialogue and learning.
“I hope that students will want to experience a range of different events, and having the group of Indian musicians joining us here for a range of performances gives us all a great chance to experience great music-making from a variety of traditions,” Maddock said.
Among the festival’s curated highlights is a film screening on Indian music, reflecting the academic excellence and cross-disciplinary input from BCU.
“The films have been curated for the festival by my colleague Dharmesh Rajput, who, as well as being course leader for Media Production in ADM, also runs the Birmingham Indian Film Festival.
“It’s wonderful to have such an expert so close at hand!”
With its bold programming and collaborative ethos, the Serendipity Arts Festival ‘Mini Edition’ in Birmingham represents a landmark moment for South Asian arts in the UK, and BCU is right at the heart of it.
The Serendipity Arts Festival Mini Edition runs from 23–26 May 2025 at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Symphony Hall.
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