University News Last updated 03 April
Award-winning stand-up comic Shazia Mirza heads the line-up in her own city as the prestigious Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) comes to Birmingham for the first time in May.
Joining forces with Birmingham City University (BCU), the first-ever SAF ‘Mini Edition’ will celebrate South Asian arts, music, dance, and culture through an eclectic mix of performances, workshops, film screenings, and exhibitions at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Symphony Hall.
BCU Vice-Chancellor Professor David Mba said: “Everyone at BCU is hugely excited about this festival. It will be the first of its kind in the UK and it will showcase BCU’s strong commitment to supporting and fostering the arts.”
Sunil Kant Munjal, founder-patron of SAF, added: “We are thrilled to bring Serendipity Arts Festival to Birmingham, a city that shares our passion for artistic innovation and cultural storytelling.
“This edition will be a bridge between continents, traditions, and contemporary expressions. Together, BCU and SAF will make the arts accessible to all.”
The four-day event, which takes place over the May Bank Holiday weekend (23-26 May), will feature a number of BCU performers, including the Birmingham Conservatoire Folk Ensemble.
Professor Greg Leadbetter will deliver an evening of poetry, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and jazz lecturer Shanti Jayasinha will lead RBC’s Banda Brasileira in a performance that celebrates Brazil’s global music traditions, and Dharmesh Rajput, Course Director for Media Production at BCU, has curated a film about Indian music.
“Since our founding almost 180 years ago, arts, design, and performance have been at the core of our University, and our education provision remains rooted in the city’s diverse cultural landscape,” added Professor Mba.
“This event will not only cement Birmingham’s position as a cultural destination of choice but will build on the talents and aspirations of our students and University.”
The ‘Mini Edition’ line-up includes:
- Thumri in the Chamber - A classical Indian music tradition given a contemporary twist by Indian rock musician and composer Zubin Balaporia.
- A tribute to the legendary tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, capturing intimate moments of his musical journey through the lens of celebrated photographer Dayanita Singh, and a screening of the film The Speaking Hand which charts Zakir's growth from the by-lanes of Bombay to his present fame as a world-renowned musician.
- Eternal Echoes – A showcase of archival images of traditional Indian musical instruments, accompanied by a pop-up library of books on the history of music in South Asia.
- Sempre Fado - an evening of soulful music, capturing the true spirit of Portuguese Goa.
- The Art of Taal – An interactive experience of performance and explanation on how Indian rhythms fuse with western Jazz.
- Echoes of Elegance: Ghazals and Old Bollywood Classics - Honouring the nostalgia of Bollywood’s golden era, this intimate performance bridges tradition and contemporary expression and features performances by RBC’s music ensembles.
SAF is an annual event that has become South Asia's largest and most anticipated arts festival, covering performing, visual, and culinary arts.
The ‘Mini Edition’ in Birmingham serves as a prelude to the main SAF, which takes place in Panjim, Goa, from 12-21 December 2025.
Tickets for this year’s free Serendipity Arts Festival Mini Edition are available via https://www.bcu.ac.uk/conservatoire/events-calendar/serendipity-festival-2025
For more details about the festival and its programming throughout the year, visit https://www.serendipityartsfestival.com/