Your Hatters Hostel

Birmingham has a lively, vibrant comedy scene. Big names and smaller comedy acts alike are regular performers on stages across the city.

The annual Birmingham Comedy Festival brings together some of the country’s finest comedy acts each October and is the highlight of Birmingham’s comedy calendar. The festival is focusing on local talent but many big names from all over the country are part of it too and can be seen in venues all over the city between 2–11 October.

Acts include Josie Long, Robin Ince and Mrs Barbara Nice, Rob Brydon, Michael McIntyre, Rich Hall, Frank Carson, etc. etc.

And there is more than just live performances like for example the special screenings of Monty Python’s Life Of Brian at the Electric Cinema – the oldest working cinema in the UK!

Round the corner from the Hatters our favourite neighbour the Actress and Bishop are hosting a very special comedy night on October 4th with stand up comedy by some of Brum’s funniest comedians – Gary Delaney, Andy White, Dan Smith and Tom Roche.

The festival has certainly something in store for everyone’s taste and to fit every budget. So get ready for a week full of fun and laughter!

THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT RETURNED AT LAST ON THE LAST WEEKEND OF SEPTEMBER!! PEOPLE OF MANCHESTER LETS GET READY TO DANCE!!!

This means 14 weeks of great electronic music parties, and it started with the launch night on the 25th September!

With class acts like Goldie, James Zabiela, Aphex Twin, Lethal Bizzel and many more if you missed make sure that you do not miss the oppportunity to witness some of the greatest nights that this city has to offer over the next few months!

For an overview of all the parties:

http://www.thewarehouseproject.com

And with the http://www.thewarehouseproject.com

And with the Hatters is the perfect place to crash after a long night’s partying!

…………Plenty of events going on in Birmingham this weekend!

Fancy some Football? Then don’t miss one of the football events of the year – part one of this season’s Second City Derby between Birmingham City and Aston Villa on Sunday! If you can’t get a ticket it is still worth watching it in Brum: there are many city centre pubs that will show the game and where you can soak up that special atmosphere. Ask us and we’ll point you in the right direction!

… Culture? Explore some history during the English Heritage Open Days weekend in the Jewellery Quarter. Plenty to discover in all the historic buildings and sites around the Hatters!

… Music? Our O2 Academy is celebrating the opening of their brand new venue with gigs of some of Birminghams best known acts, starting tonight (Thursday) with The Editors. Klick here for more information.

… Beer? Whether you’re into Real Ale or just want to experience a typical English beer festival and sample a great selection of ales, don’t miss the Birmingham Beer Festival at Aston Student Guild. A free vintage bus service to the festival leaves every 30 minutes from Colmore Row, a 5 minutes walk from the Hatters.

………………….… and the ArtsFest 2009

The biggest event of the weekend and one that certainly includes something for everyone is undoubtetly the ArtsFest, the UK’s biggest free arts festival!

Get ready for a weekend full of music, dance, theatre, street art and much more in places all around the city. A lot of the action is going on around Centenary Square, where you can see various musicians performing all weekend. One of the highlights there is Sunday’s KerrangFest with many local acts and headlined by Athlete and Reverend and the Makers.

There are plenty more bands playing indoors and outdoors all around Birmingham throughout the weekend. It is not all about music though and the is so much more to discover over the next few days! Pick up a program for the best overview of what’s going on or have a look at the website.

Good news for live music fans from near and far: Birmingham is getting a brand new O2 Academy!

In a few days time the old venue is closing down for good and a new bigger and better one will open its doors on September 10th for live music, live music and more live music … not to forget the plenty of club nights!

And is there any better way to celebrate a live music venue in Birmingham than with a selection of great Brummie musicians?

The opening weekend will see four of Birmingham’s most popular bands headlining four successive evenings at the new venue!

Thu, 10/09 – The Editors

The big weekend kicks off with The Editors, supported by Bombay Bicycle Club and The Northwestern. In the wake of their new album ‘In This Light And On This Evening’ the sold out gig in their hometown is The Editors’ first non-festival show in 2009.

Fri, 11/09 – The Twang

The second day is set to be a big big party with no less than 10 bands playing across 3 rooms, headlined by our Jewellery Quarter-neighbours The Twang! They have just released their new album, named after that wonderful part of or wonderful town which we (Hatters) are based in! Rehearsing and writing songs in this creativity-sparking area and hanging out in the pub round the corner, they love “our” part of Birmingham as much as we do. Their Academy gig has been sold out for a while, but maybe you’ll pop into them when you hang out around the Hatters?

Sat, 12/09- The Streets

On the Saturday Mike Skinner aka The Streets will add a bit of rap to all the rock music and entertain the crowd with material from his new album ‘Everything Is Borrowed’ plus hopefully plenty of old classics.

Sun, 13/09 – Ocean Colour Scene

Last but not least Moseley boys Ocean Colour Scene will rock the Academy’s stage together with The Moon. OCS were the first band to headline the old Academy on its opening day 9 years ago and are looking forward to being part of this fresh launch too. They’re playing another special gig a few days earlier (Wednesday the 9th), an accoustic set in Selfridges! Tickets for that are only availbale through a competition – see here for the details. And if you’re not lucky enough: Join the Hatters crew for the gig at the new Academy!