Event Information
Join us for the family-focused day of MAC’s Big Green Weekender, our festival celebrating creativity and local action for our shared future. Visitors of all ages are invited to drop-in creative activities, films, live music, a Repair Café and more – everyone welcome! All activities listed below are free.
Outdoor Theatre
3pm – 4pm
Surge Family Show
Musicians from high-energy genre-bending Surge Orchestra come together to present a brand new family show. Be introduced to music from around the globe and travel from Zimbabwe to Senegal, from India to Ireland. Hear new sounds and get involved in this interactive performance for children. We encourage you to bring an instrument if you have one, and if not, we will have plenty percussion to share with you on the day!
Best suited for ages 5-11, but siblings and all ages welcome.
Photo credit: Jonathan Williams
Hexagon Theatre: BSL interpreted
12pm – 1pm: Based in Brum film screening and Q&A
An exclusive preview of a new short film which chronicles the invaluable green wisdom and treasured memories held by our elders. Has Birmingham become a greener city? Have things like transportation and daily life become easier? What valuable life skills have been lost along the way? Through storytelling, these memories and knowledge will be passed down to younger generations. Based in Brum’s film project runs until June 2024 and is supported by The Heritage Lottery Fund. Followed by an intergenerational Q&A.
2 – 4pm: Bringing up children in an age of climate crisis
How do we talk to children and young people in our lives about climate change, and what meaningful action can we take together? An interactive workshop inspired by Growing Up Green (Kings Heath) with space to share questions, fears and inspiration. With Growing Up Green coordinator Amy Campbell, Glue Collective’s Jemima Graham and young climate activist Sanaa Pasha, facilitated by Danni Ebanks-Ingram.
Garden Studio
12pm – 4pm: Repair Café
Bring your broken items to be fixed by Balsall Heath repair café! Their skilled volunteer menders will be on hand to fix your household electrical appliances and textile items, with JoJo Wood from Channel 4’s ‘Mend it for Money’ offering furniture repair. Join them to save old items from being thrown away and enjoy sharing skills, building relationships, having fun and learning new things.
MAC's Foyer
11am – 4pm: Stalls and activities
Find out what’s happening locally and how you can get involved with stalls and interactive activities by local organisations and groups. Including a water-inspired creative activity by Elan Links, craft activities by Hearts On Our Sleeves, a storytelling booth by A Level Playing Field and a children’s activity by Martineau Gardens.
11am – 1pm: Make an artwork from old clothes
Drop-in workshop for children of all ages. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Turn scrap fabric into a beautiful tree in this drop-in workshop led by MAC tutor and dressmaker Azi Zahed. Bring your own old clothes, curtains, bedding or any scrap fabric (browns, greens or any colour). We will also have scrap material available.
1 - 3pm: Facepainting
Get your pace painted for free by Elisangela from RESILE, first come first served!
2 – 4pm: Zine-making
Drop-in workshop, recommended for ages 8+. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
What is the future we want to see, and how can we bring it about? Join MAC’s Artist Tutor Allie Joy and make a collective zine (collage magazine) to encourage climate action. Inspired by the zines created by Birmingham secondary school students with MAC as part of Reframe, a new digital skills project sponsored by Apple.
Outdoor Terrace
11am – 4pm: Dr Bike
Free assessments of bikes, basic repairs and introductory maintenance training by Birmingham Bike Foundry.
1.30 – 4pm: Fruit and herb growing workshop
Join local forest garden creators and orchardists, Fruit & Nut Village, to learn about starting off your own edible, perennial plants from cuttings
1.30 – 4pm: Nature workshop
Nature-based activity for children by Martineau Gardens
Cannon Hill Park
11am – 4pm: A Walk Through the History of Water
Join Elan Links for a walk through Cannon Hill Park and meet figures from the past who will share with you how water has been transported through history, from prehistory to the Victorian age. There will also be the opportunity to see a 1940's fire engine water pump in action! Suitable for all the family. Suitable for all the family, drop in anytime or join a 45-minute guided tour at 1pm and 3pm.
MAC’s Big Green Weekender is hosted by Danni Ebanks-Ingram (they/them), a Birmingham-based artist with a community-focused practice.
With a background in visioning, building and investing in civic infrastructure Danni has a continued interest in thriving communities, public space, alternative systems that centre collective care, people and the planet. Formerly Co-founder and Everyday Extraordinary Curator at Civic Square, Danni is currently stepping back into film, performance, activism and movement with restoration, discovery and play at its core.
Stallholders across the weekend include:
Birmingham City CouncilBirmingham Climate Justice Coalition
Birmingham Culture Declares Emergency
Birmingham Friends of the Earth
Birmingham Open Spaces Forum (BOSF)
Birmingham Tree People
Compost Culture
Greenpeace Birmingham
Plastic Free Moseley and Kings Heath / Brummie Cup
ROAM
UpRising
