Fancy some action and adventure this weekend?
Are you an outdoor enthusiast who wants to get ideas on what to do this summer? Or are you simply interested in trying out different things and want a day full of action and fun?
Come to the NEC this weekend for the Outdoors Show 2009!
It is a fantastic opportunity to try out as many different activities as possible, all under one roof! If you’ve always wondered whether a particular adventure sport is the right thing for you but never had a chance to try it out – the
Outdoors Show is your place to go, try as many things as you can and get free advice from experts!
The show is divided into four areas, an
Outdoors Zone, Adventure Sports Zone, Watersports Zone and Adventure Travel Zone.
Activities to try out include
high ropes, scuba diving, climbing walls, canoeing, a mountain bike trail, surfing, woodland trails, a wilderness camp for practising outdoor and survival skills, … and much, much more…
There is also a small music festival hosted by
Kerrang! Radio and if you need a bit of a rest after all the action, sit down at the
Cumberland Arms Pub and try their fantastic ale from the Lake District!
One of the highlights is the
SkyMasters climbing competition. Watch international star climbers racing head to head on spectacular overhanging routes suspended from the NEC ceiling.
The cycling experts from
MB7, who operate the
mountain bike area, are staying at
Hatters Birmingham this week, go and check them out at the Show, watch one of
their cycle stunt team’s exciting displays, try out one of their bikes on their track yourself or learn some tricks from the experts!
The Hatters will be present on Sunday afternoon at the stand of the
Independent Hostel Guide. Make sure to drop by and say hello, you can even enter a prize draw with a chance to win free nights at any of our
Hatters hostels and various other accommodation throughout the UK!
Show Opening hours for tomorrow and Sunday:
28 March: 9.00am – 6.00pm
29 March: 9.00am – 5.00pm
Information about ticket prices and discounts can be found
here.
See you there!
It’s the time of the year when everyone thinks it’s cool to be Irish, probably more Guinness is sold worldwide than at any other time and the colour green dominates cities around the globe.
Birmingham is no exception – every year our large Irish community organises the celebrations for St Patrick’s Day. We even have the third largest St. Patrick’s Parade in the world!
So if you want something different from the famous one over there in Dublin and if New York with its second largest parade is too far away – Birmingham is your place to be!
There is a whole festival going on! The first event of interest for you might be the “unofficial launch” this afternoon:
Come to the Bullring between 12am and 3pm to see various Irish musicians, dancers and some other acts perform live on stage.
The big day is Sunday:
The parade takes place around the Digbeth area between 12pm – 2.30pm. So find yourself a nice place along the route and watch the many different colourful floats and walking groups passing by.
After that, there are various options for what to do. If you are just up for a drink (or two, or three…), there’s plenty of choice – the area is full of pubs, most of which promise special offers for the day or special entertainment.
But there are also the official events. In Bradford Street a free open-air stage will be set up with five bands playing to entertain you from 2pm:
The Heathers, The Father Teds, The Destroyers, The Scarlet Harlots and Neck.
At the Emerald Village at the Custard Factory you will find international food stalls and bars, live music, a flea market, football skills and skateboarding demonstrations and much, much more.
All the official entertainment finishes around 7pm, but don’t worry, of course all those pubs are still there and open in case you haven’t had enough Guinness by that time, or simply can’t stop partying…
All information around the events in Birmingham can be found on the official festival website. 
Flatpack. That sounds similar to backpack and even more like flashpack. As a hostel, we are obviously very familiar with both of these at the Hatters.
We are less familiar with what exactly ‘flatpack’ is all about and are therefore very eager to discover it this week!
It sounds promising – Flatpack Festival is the third edition of an annual film festival organised by 7 Inch Cinema and held in various venues across Birmingham, including cinemas, warehouses, pubs…
For five days this week - from 11-15 March – tons of film-related events will take place, from the obvious screenings of independent movies and music documentaries to animation, street art, installations, talks and other events. There is a lot to do and see!
To get a better picture of what exactly is going on visit their website flatpackfestival.com or download the full programme as a PDF-file here.
You will find the individual ticket prices listed in that brochure or online when you click on the respective event. If you are up for five whole days packed with events, the festival pass might be the right thing for you. It costs £45 (£35 for students) and opens you the doors to most of the stuff that is going on. Get it here.
Everything taking place in and around the city centre means that our hostel is within walking distance to all the locations.
So have a look at what’s going on, take your pick and go to explore the exciting events and venues! – Your comfy bed at the Hatters is waiting for you in the evening. And we are very curious as well and want you to tell us everthing about the festival when you get back!
