Everyone’s starting to wind down for 2023 – those email replies can wait until next year. But while we should be relaxing ahead of the double-whammy that is Christmas and New Year’s Eve, we’re already buzzing about these things to do in Birmingham in 2024. There are good reasons too, with new openings, returning giants, and some exciting cultural events. So what has 2024 got in store for Birmingham?
1. St Patrick’s Day Parade
The third biggest St Patrick’s Day Parade in the world is coming back to Birmingham! At its peak, over 80,000 people used to attend – before COVID hit, then the neverending roadworks. Now after four years, the Irish celebration will be back on the streets of Digbeth with a sea of green and Guinness on Sunday, March 17, 2024. The day will feature both a parade and carnival, with the whole area likely to be getting involved.
2. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Home to collections of everything from fine art to metalwork, jewellery to ceramics, as well as natural, local and international history, Birmingham has been without its main museum since 2020. While it did flirt with reopening last year, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery will start to properly return in 2024. This will happen in phases, however, starting in February 2024 with Victorian Radicals – this award-winning exhibition is a world-renowned collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. They’ve spent the last five years touring the US but will return home to Birmingham in the major exhibition space, the Gas Hall, from February 10.
3. Riverine Rabbit
Old to new, Riverine Rabbit is the Cape Town restaurant that’s travelled 6,000 miles to open in Stirtchley. Named after the elusive riverine rabbit from the Karoo Desert – and a nod to its ongoing support of sustainable farming practices – it will combine South African flavours with seasonal British produce. It’s opening on January 5, 2024 (not long to wait now) with a menu made up of 16 small plates, heavily focussed on wild game, as well as seafood and a substantial vegetarian offering for plant-based guests.
4. Carters
Having spent 13 years in Moseley, Carters moved to Westlands UK in Evesham during the summer. The Michelin restaurant spent the last six months creating a unique dining experience in a greenhouse surrounded by the produce it was cooking with. But now it’s ready to come home, just not to Moseley… It’s launching a pop-up at the private members club, Eighteen at 103 Colmore Row, from February 2 to May 31, 2024. After that, it will open a more permanent home in Birmingham City Centre in the summer.
5. Birmingham Hippodrome
Birmingham Hippodrome became the first UK venue to start developing its own musicals in 2023. We’ll see the results of its in-house musical theatre department this year. The first fully Hippodrome-produced musical aims to be staged in the Patrick Studio in 2024, with produced work becoming a regular feature on its stages following. What that will look like, we’re not sure yet, but we’ll be super proud of our city to see it on the big stage whatever. Keep your eyes peeled.
6. Pizza Punks
Pizza Punks threatens to “rip up the rule book and tear apart the pizza game”, when it comes to the city in 2024. But what does this rebellious pizza joint do to be different? Well, it’s unlimited pizza toppings. Not the most radical action, but enough to pique our interest. You’ll be able to grab any sourdough pizza for £12.95, adding anything from beef shin ragu and black pudding to caramelised pineapple and BBQ-pulled jackfruit. Whatever you fancy, there’s no judgement here – with a range of student-friendly deals also offered throughout the week.
7. This Town
Peaky Blinders has been the biggest flagbearer for Birmingham pride across the planet in recent years. It’s probably the main reason why Americans now love the Brummie accent. Something tells us Steven Knight’s next project will only bring more love to the West Midlands. Set for release in 2024, This Town “tells the story of an extended family and four young people who are drawn into the world of ska and two-tone music.” Uniting young people of all backgrounds in Coventry and Birmingham in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the subgenre birthed such iconic bands as The Specials and The Beat. We’ll be tuning in every week for this.
8. Snobs
Since opening in 1972, generations have enjoyed Snobs’ cheap drinks, banging tunes and buzzing (sticky) dancefloor. An institution in Birmingham, the Birmingham venue is on the move in 2024. The future of the indie nightclub sees it heading to Broad Street, replacing the Velvet Music Rooms at Cumberland House. Despite having turned the big 50 earlier this year, the nightclub is as fresh and youthful as ever – and we’re expecting a big, big party on moving day.
9. Capital Karts
A new go-karting track is coming to Star City early next year – featuring an 800-metre double-height track, with each go-kart reaching a top speed of 45mph. This will make it the longest and fastest in the Midlands when it opens. Capital Karts also uses an electric motor over traditional gas karts, so the environmentally conscious among us can speed along with a relaxed conscience.
10. Pasture
If you’re ever in Bristol or Cardiff hankering for a steak, you’ve got to check out Pasture. It’s got sirloins and ribeyes, sure, but it’s the ‘dinosaur cut’ tomahawks and prized chateaubriands that are a must-try – all dry-aged for a minimum of 35 days. The upscale, sustainably sourced steakhouse will launch in Birmingham early next spring in the former Barclays Bank building at Fifteen Colmore Row. Pasture will be raising the steaks in Birmingham for 2024!