Plenty of reasons to be cheerful heading into 2025
Deck the halls and snaffle down your 100th mince pie – it’s nearly Christmas, writes Henrietta Brealey.
And as Christmas is a time for the warm fuzzy feeling of joy and for giving, with my final Birmingham Post column of the year I’m here to share the things that have got me feeling pretty buzzing about Birmingham in 2025.
That’s right, for today we’re leaving the gloom and doom in 2024, because you know what? There’s a lot to be excited about. From food to film, culture to cocktails, sports to superstars and, of course, business and investment too.
The start to the new year can always feel a bit flat. The evenings are still gloomy, the weather still sucks but the twinkling lights and warming glühwein of the Christmas markets are long gone. Never fear – Birmingham Light Festival is set to brighten up those dark evenings. Taking place between the 19th and 22nd February Birmingham city centre will play host to a trail of illuminated artworks. There will also be a series of events across the city taking the theme of ‘light’ in interesting directions – from candlelit dinning to artistic workshops.
It’s the brought to you by the city centre’s Business Improvement Districts and Birmingham’s City Curator, Alex Nicholson-Evans – someone who knows a thing or two about how to drive footfall for our retail and hospitality sectors and show off this brilliant city. She’s also the behind two of my other favourite city festivals that are back with a bang in 2025 - Birmingham Cocktail Weekend (summer edition: 10th-13th July, winter edition: 23rd-26th October) and Birmingham Restaurant Festival (1st-31st August).
So, if eating, drinking and exploring the city is your thing you’ve got plenty to look forward to.
Next year will also see Birmingham all over our TV screens as two local icons release their latest Brum-fuelled offerings. First, of course, we’re expecting a late 2025 release date for Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders movie (anyone else spot the filming on Edmund Street last month?). The Brummie gangsters have truly taken the world by storm and, with Oscar winner Cillian Murphy back in the lead role, it’s sure to attract plenty of attention.
Second, Joe Lycett’s United States of Birmingham will be landing on Sky Max next year, chronicling his journey across North America’s Birminghams. Remember the ‘Inaugural International Day of Birmingham’ celebrations back on the 24th September? I’m looking forward to seeing that delightfully chaotic footage in the show. It’s all going to be very Joe Lycett – very silly but unashamedly proud of this fabulous city.
It's all brilliant for furthering Birmingham’s reputation as a centre for TV and film creativity and production.
Speaking of Brummie icons – Ozzy Osbourne has been very public in his ambitions to get the band back together for a final (final) gig. Could 2025 see a one-off Black Sabbath reunion in Brum? If it does, I hope that city goes all in celebrating its status as the home of heavy metal.
Then we get in to “sports, sports, sports”. Birmingham is inarguably a leader in hosting major sporting events and 2025 will continue that trajectory. If athletics is your thing there’s plenty to choose from with the UK Athletics Indoor Championships (22-23 February 2025 at the Utilita Arena) and UK Athletics Outdoor Championships (2-3 August 2025 at Alexander Stadium).
Edgbaston Stadium will start its 2025-31 record run of international cricket matches next year. Key features will include England vs. India Men’s Test match and England vs. India Women’s IT20 in July and T20 Vitality Blast finals day in September.
And as for the football, there’s plenty to be excited about between the city’s iconic rival clubs. Will Birmingham City Football Club win League One? Will Aston Villa be destined for a run into the Champions League knockout stages?
Plus, of course, we’ll be keeping an eye out for the next phases of Birmingham City’s transformational plans to invest £3bn in a sports quarter for the city. Oh, and another milestone to watch out for in July - two years to go to the Invictus Games 2027. The business of sport is well and truly booming in Brum.
Speaking of business, Birmingham Design Festival will be back with their biannual conference in June, celebrating all things design industry. Birmingham Tech Week, the UK’s largest regional tech festival and conference, will be back in October 2025.
Birmingham continues to attract investment from firms expanding or moving into the city – and there’s two big announcements that we’re looking out for just in Q1. And with major opportunities like the Investment Zone – Birmingham’s Innovation Quarter - picking up momentum, no doubt there will be plenty more to come.
There are even green shoots just starting to emerge within Birmingham City Council as they appear to have come to an agreement with unions to settle the equal pay dispute albatross for up to £300m.
That, together with the appointment of Joanne Roney CBE as CEO of the Council, could see 2025 mark a real turning point for the local authority. Joanne recently met with our GBCC patrons and I have to say, where there’s still a long path ahead – if anyone is up to the job of leading our city’s local authority though these challenges, it’s her.
So, all-in-all, lots of good stuff out there to keep that festive feeling running right the way through next year.
We’ve got plenty of exciting things planned at the GBCC too…but you’ll get no spoilers here, you’ll have to wait for January for the first of our big reveals.
Henrietta Brealey is chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce
This column first appeared in the Birmingham Post
