The full Celebrating Sanctuary Festival line-up is confirmed and our festival brochure is available now!

2012 is all set to be our best year yet, with a line-up headed by global fusion innovators Transglobal Underground, who will be providing a stunning end to what we fully expect to be a glorious festival opening day at the Old Print Works on Moseley Road on Sunday 3rd June. What better way to spend the Sunday before a bonus bank holiday than at our community celebration day, taking part in arts activities and entertainment, with the opportunity to see the unique Village Well at Cafe Ort for free!

The line-up continues in fine style, with contributions from Ghanaian funk outfit Yaaba Funk at the Hare & Hounds on 8th June, African Jazz fusion collective Crossroad Collision at Rush Hour Blues on 15th June and Senegalese kora master Diabel Cissokho at La Reference on 22nd June. We’ll be offering a full day of activities, live music, film and theatre at MAC Birmingham on 16th June, featuring Afro Mio, Damba and Kausary amongst others, taking you on a musical journey from the Chilean Andes, through Africa to the Balkans. And there’s a whole feast of community events, activities and gigs besides, featuring local, national and international bands.

Click here for our full festival brochure, and please do come and support this unique charity festival.

We’re delighted to be bringing you the Krar Collective on Friday 13th April, 8:30pm at the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath. This is one of Ethiopia’s finest bands, fresh from their We ♥ Ethiopia world tour.

Krar Collective always put on a vibrant performance, bursting with energy and humour. Singer-dancer Genet Asefa is the queen of rapid costume change, getting through an amazing number of outfits at last year’s performance at Celebrating Sanctuary’s Refugee Week launch event at MAC Birmingham. Along with Temesegen Tareken on krar (Ethiopian 6-stringed harp) and Robel Tesfaye on traditional Ethiopian Kebero drums, this trio bring something dynamic and exciting to the stage every time.

In support is Hassan Salih Nour, a Sudanese musician of great talent. This week he plays solo, but look out for him in some new collaborations coming up in the Celebrating Sanctuary calendar.

At Friday’s gig we’ll be letting you have a sneak preview of June’s Celebrating Sanctuary World Music Festival calendar. We’re still bubbling with the news of our Arts Council grant, so expect some high spirits, big plans and an air of celebration.

The concert begins at 1pm. Zirak and Fouad’s performance begins at 2pm. Please drop by if you can!

(See Festival pages for more details)

Well, we promised to be back bigger and better in 2011 and we’ve been true to our word!

With funding from the National Lottery through Grants for the Arts and some new partnerships with MAC and Town Hall/Symphony Hall, this year looks set to be a really good one, bringing you a world music festival, events and activities for national Refugee Week, and a bi-monthly CSB@… series at the Hare & Hounds that will see us through to 2012.

The Celebrating Sanctuary Festival celebrates its 10^th anniversary in style, with an explosion of world music and sanctuary celebration events throughout June. We’re in some new venues, working with some new partners, and revisiting and strengthening some of our existing links. The festival programme showcases artists from refugee backgrounds as well as musicians born and brought up in Birmingham and others who have migrated to our city from elsewhere in the UK and beyond. The result is a blend of the best world and fusion music that Birmingham has to offer, and we’ll continue to support new collaborations and develop new music to ensure that the festival stays vibrant and alive.

The Celebrating Sanctuary Festival runs from 1^st to 25^th June 2011 and spans and incorporates national Refugee Week. See the Festival pages for more information.

Refugee Week 2011

National Refugee Week falls between 20^th– 26^th June. We’ll be supporting and promoting the week as usual and are collaborating with a range of partners to increase its impact and develop new events.

We’re excited to announce Songs of Sanctuary; a collaboration with Town Hall / Symphony Hall’s Education and Community Department in celebration of National Refugee Week. We’ll have eight musicians and a drama practitioner (Pyn Stockman) working throughout May and June in four secondary schools and three primary schools. The project will build towards a mini festival of global music on Saturday 18th June in the Symphony Hall foyers. This performance and activity day is open to members of the public and features schools performances alongside bands Crossroad Collision, Daholl Kurdish Ensemble, Son de la Vie and the Bland Mahdi Ensemble. Also available will be arts and craft activities, stalls, displays and information. The project and performance day will encourage and support a range of activities and learning opportunities in Birmingham schools throughout the week.

On Saturday 25^th June we’ll be putting on a family event to celebrate Refugee Week at MAC with music, workshops, film, discussion and activities. We hope that this event will reach new audiences and encourage participation, debate and celebration of the contributions of refugees in a popular family venue.

Birmingham Jazz will be partnering with us to present the popular Congolese line-up Son de la Vie at Rush Hour Blues on Friday 24^th June. We hope to continue working with Birmingham Jazz to strengthen and extend our programme and to bring refugee musicians to new audiences.

CSB@… series

As if all that wasn’t enough, we’ll be carrying on after the festival with a bi-monthly music night until June 2012, starting off in the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath on Thursday 16^th June. We’ll use this to showcase and develop new talent for next year’s festival and promise to bring you a range of Birmingham world and fusion gems alongside some choice picks from elsewhere in the country and beyond. If you’re from a refugee background and a professional musician, either solo or with a band, please get in touch and we’ll let you know how to audition. Find out more.

Thanks to the National Lottery through Grants for the Arts for financial support; to our partners mentioned above; and to you all for your continued and much-needed support. See you on the dance floor very soon!