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Life in Birmingham

Overview
Arts and culture
Library of Birmingham
Music and nightlife
Sport
Shopping
Not to be missed
  • Life in Birmingham
  • Life in Birmingham
  • Life in Birmingham

Living in Birmingham means you’ll enjoy one of the UK’s most exciting and diverse cities, famed for its world-class restaurants, history, entertainment and shops.

international life in Birmingham

Entertainment

  • The Barclaycard Arena – formerly the National Indoor Arena (NIA) - opened in 2014 following a £26 million redevelopment
  • Symphony Hall is one of the world’s finest concert halls and home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
  • The Rainbow, Spotlight, Gatecrasher and The Custard Factory have fantastic club nights
  • Birmingham has an exciting and varied live music scene. As the birthplace of legendary band Black Sabbath, it’s known as the ‘home of heavy metal’

Culture

  • Birmingham Hippodrome, one of the most popular musical theatres in the UK, attracts over 500,000 visitors a year
  • The famous NEC holds over 500 events and exhibitions per year, including the international Crufts dog show 
  • Birmingham has more than 500,000 works of art in one square mile
  • Did you know Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice, with 56 kilometres of waterways!

Shopping

Bullring Shopping Centre
  • The city is in England’s top three most visited places to shop, and is known as one of Europe’s best shopping experiences
  • The Bullring Shopping Centre offers over 110,000 sq m of retail space, including the iconic Selfridges store with its dramatic ‘skin’ made up of 15,000 spun aluminium disks
  • Other shopping highlights include the stylish Mailbox complex and the forthcoming Grand Central Birmingham, with its flagship John Lewis store, which is due to open in September 2015
  • Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter has over 400 jewellery businesses
  • Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market is the biggest in the UK, with nearly 200 stalls
  • The city has one of the largest Chinatowns outside London

Sport

  • The Belfry has hosted the Ryder Cup golf tournament on four occasions and is the UK headquarters of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA)
  • We have two Premier League football clubs – Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion (WBA)
  • Edgbaston Cricket Ground is home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club and is also used for Test Matches and One Day Internationals