Queen’s Baton Relay
Homecoming Celebration
The Queens Baton Relay arrival into Victoria Square will be a celebration of everything we love about Birmingham - it’s people and it’s stories on the eve of the Opening Ceremony.
Come down to Victoria Square at 5pm until 9pm to join in the celebration.
Drums from across the Commonwealth will echo through the space welcoming audiences to the square to start the evening. Bostin Brass will bring their brass party beats.
Hear poetry and words about our great city and the idea of Games from Raza Hussain, Sebbie Mudhai (Wondrous Stories) watch these poets pass the poetry baton between them. Tamanna Abdul Karrim’s beautiful poem Woven Air will be performed with an appearance from Birmingham Poet Laureate Casey Bailey with his piece Dear Brum…
In Her Shoes, a Community Interest company that create opportunities for refugee women and girls to share our commonalities and differences through their participation in music who will sing an original song about their experiences of making Birmingham their home along with Smile Community Choir run by Bright Young Minds with intergenerational singers from inner city areas across the city, aged 7 to 80!
The night has been co-curated with Sampad who have invited a range of community dance groups such as Gospel Oak, India Island and Bengali Midland Association. Bollywood star and musician Navin Kundra will provide us some with Bollywood entertainment along with a favourite - Bollywood Dreams Dance Group.
Hip hop talent O'Drisoll Collective will perform their piece about Brum and Masculinity. A beautiful spoken word piece will be performed by Adeji Sun, who with his Barbadian roots will perform with musicians Sohaib Oppal and Vato Wastaken.
Alongside drag queens from Fatt Butcher’s Fatt Projects we will dance together and show the world that this city is for everyone.
Line up
The evening will be compere’d by Radzi (former Blue Peter host and Good Morning Britain showbiz reporter) and Birmingham’s very own Sanity.
5pm to 7pm
- Drums
- Sonia Sultana
- Bostin Brass
- Welcome
- Casey Bailey
- Navin Kundra
- Tamanna Abdul Karim
- In Her Shoes
- Sampad
- Baton arrival to Victoria Square
7pm to 9pm
- Adjei Sun
- Smile Choir
- Bostin Brass
- Sonia Sultana
- Raza and Sebbie
- O'Driscoll Collective
- Bollywood Dance School
- SANITY
- Fatt Projects
- Close