Colors: Red Color

Set to be one of the most eye-catching events of the winter, The Festival of Light at Longleat will bring the curtain down on the Safari Park's very own 50th birthday celebrations in truly spectacular style.Starting on November 11th, and running through to January 2nd, the winter spectacular will once again take the age-old tradition of the Chinese lantern and completely transform it for today's modern audience.

Soap star royalty arrived in Birmingham as Britain’s favourite soap baddie, Steve McFadden paid an exclusive visit to the city’s premiere theatre in countdown to the arrival of Birmingham’s biggest panto. Best known for playing 'hard man' Phil Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ‘EastEnders,’ Steve will swap the streets of Albert Square for the sewers of London this Christmas in the role of the villainous King Rat in Dick Whittington, running at Birmingham Hippodrome from December – January.

From family fun to terrifying tours of some of the city’s most haunted places, visitors to Birmingham Museums will be in for a treat (and trick) this half-term. For those families looking for an extra thrilling treat during the holidays there will be ghostly fun for visitors all week at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, and at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (Mon 24th – Fri 28th Oct), with special Halloween events such as, scary storytelling, creepy crafts and spooky experiments taking place.

Named by The Times as “one of tomorrow’s great artists”, Chinese-born British artist and social commentator Aowen Jin will be creating a unique installation called The Ritual at the historic Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park as part of Museums at Night festival in October. Compton Verney won the Museums at Night Connect competition, beating off four other museums and heritage venues across the UK to ‘win’ an Aowen Jin artist event for the venue. The Ritual will open on Saturday October 29 (until November 13).  

Apple Tree is an unprecedented collaboration between Keneish Dance and The Glee Club, Birmingham. The partnership has come together to present a distinctive live art night featuring a mix of music, acrobatics, dance, spoken word and comedy. Apple Tree is unique in its ambition of bringing together an impressive roster of local and national artists to create a dynamic cabaret night with a difference.  

Platinum selling singer Mica Paris is to star in the hit musical Chicago at Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre later this year.  Paris, who had hits with ‘My One Temptation’, ‘Back Angel’, ‘Stay’ and ‘Carefree’, will play the role of Mama Morton when the show comes to the Second City from 12 to 31 December. Also starring in Chicago are John Partridge as Billy Flynn, Hayley Tamaddon as Roxie Hart, Sophie Carmen-Jones as Velma Kelly, Neil Ditt as Amos Hart and A.D. Richardson as Mary Sunshine.

The annual Diwali celebrations on Soho Road will take place on Sunday 16th October 2016 on one of Britain's most diverse streets. The event is set to start at 12pm and end at 6.30pm with the Diwali lights switch on.  Soho Road BID hosts West Midlands largest Diwali festival which attracts thousands each year. The organisation consists of 560 independent businesses that spread from Holyhead Road all the way to Soho Hill and caters to approximately 250,000 residents in the vicinity.

The NEC has been chosen by Raccoon Events as the hosts of the inaugural National Running Show, thanks to its location in the heart of the UK and its flexible event space. The launch show will take place from 20-21 January 2018. National Running Show is the first large-scale running expo of its kind in the UK and is designed by runners, for runners. The event will provide all of the kit, advice and support needed to achieve running goals.

The Repertory Theatre, renowned for its year round programme of theatrical events, was named Venue of the Year at the 2016 Birmingham Awards. The award was presented for its ability to host exhibitions, company events and functions. Stuart Rogers, executive director at The REP, said: “A big thank you to everyone who voted for us and a huge congratulation to the events team and everyone else at The REP who helped us to win this award.

The world famous Harlem Globetrotters, featuring some of the most electrifying athletes on the planet, will bring their spectacular show to the UK during their 2017 World Tour. The Globetrotters recently wrapped a busy 90th year tour, during which they named Pope Francis the ninth Honorary Harlem Globetrotter in team history, and walked the runway at New York Fashion week.

Children’s Touring Partnership has announced the first UK Tour of Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo in an adaptation by Samuel Adamson, at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Tuesday 6 – Sat 10 June 2017. Tickets will be on general sale from Thursday 6 October.  Michael Morpurgo’s novel, based on a true story, is brought to life in this award-winning production, which has been described by critics as ‘inspiring’, ‘evocative, ‘imaginative’ and ‘life-affirming’. 

Two Saturday nights of fantastic Halloween and bonfire fun are lined up for families in Wolverhampton.There will be spooky goings on and a pumpkin parade for youngsters and their families at Hickman Park, Bilston, on Saturday, October 29. And for the second year running the city’s annual bonfire and fireworks night is being held at Wolverhampton Racecourse on Saturday, November 5. Both events are backed by Signal 107 with entertainment from Dicky Dodd and his team.

This Christmas Norwich, the City of Stories presents a stunning 7-week festive furore in which the UK's first 'tunnel of light' is the centre piece of the city's celebrations. Light is the theme of the city in 2016 with the launch on 17th November (as the city lights switch on takes place) of Norwich's lead seasonal attraction, the UK's first immersive 'Tunnel of Light'. Inspiration for the tunnel has been taken from Nagashia Resort's theme park Nabana no Sato in Japan.