As we make it through to 2016, waving goodbye to another amazing year in Birmingham, you may be thinking what on earth can top the 12 months which saw dozens of new restaurants, a tram extension, countless new shops and a shiny train station arrive in the city?
You may also be trying to make some kind of resolution, be vowing never to drink again and to save lots of money?
For us, we hope 2016 will be a year for trying new stuff, making the most of what this city has to offer and, to be frank, HAVE FUN!
So here’s our bucket list for 2016 – how many will you be trying?
Eat a Michelin starred meal
Thanks to the inspectors at Michelin, Birmingham now has FIVE Michelin starred restaurants.
It would be a mistake to think these Michelin places are out of reach, too posh or expensive to try.
You will be amazed how reasonable some of the menus are.
A dish of vodka cured Loch Duart salmon and beetroot at Carters of Moseley
In fact maybe we should be more adventurous on our bucket list and say – let’s eat at ALL of them.
We love the comfy, homely feel of Carters of Moseley; the intimate feel of Adam’s (moving to a new premises in Waterloo Street in 2016); The Brummie inspired menu at Purnell’s, the finery of Simpsons in Edgbaston and the all round splendidness of Turners in Harborne.
All offer very decent and relatively cheap lunch menus.
Finger’s crossed we get a sixth star in 2016!
50 great Birmingham restaurants we think you really should try
Birmingham chef Glynn Purnell in 2010.
See a ballet and classical music concert
If you have never been to a ballet or a classical concert in Birmingham maybe 2016 is the time to try it?
Seeing a ballet or full orchestra can be an awesome experience. Birmingham Royal Ballet and CBSO are ranked as the best around, so we are lucky to have them right on our doorstep.
Members of the Birmingham Royal Ballet dazzle as stars. Photo: Bill Cooper
In 2016 BRB will be performing Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, and the Christmas favourite The Nutcracker at Birmingham Hippodrome.
7 reasons why you should watch a ballet in Birmingham
And you don’t need to know your Beethoven from your Bach to enjoy CBSO performing at Symphony Hall. The orchestra is performing the music from Disney’s Frozen on April 16 and has regular Friday Night Classic concerts where you will see the musicians in a more relaxed mode playing anything from film scores to disco.
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Learn to dance
If you don’t want to watch a dance like BRB, why not have one?
Northern Soul and Motown club The Night Owl has Wednesday night dance classes which, we can verify, are actually pretty cool.
We went for dance lessons at The Night Owl – here’s what happened
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If that isn’t your thing, try Cuban salsa classes or flamenco at The Dance Workshop, Alcester Road, Moseley.
If you want to get super fit at the same time, pole dancing fitness classes are pretty tough, or you could go for burlesque dancing lessons at Pure Joy in Jewellery Quarter.
Take on a fitness challenge
The Great Birmingham Run gets bigger every year and once the New Year’s Eve partying is out of the way you may need a goal to help you get fit.
This year there is the Great Birmingham Run 10k on Sunday, May 1 before the Great Birmingham Run (half marathon) on October 16.
See how to enter here
If that’s not enough of a challenge, you can always sign up for the original Tough Guy event at South Perton Farm near Wolverhampton, now in its 30th year.
Tough Guy Nettle Warrior XVIII in Wolverhampton…
On January 31, 7,000 people will take on obstacles which test their fear of heights, tight spaces, fire, water and electricity. Or if you need more time to train, the Nettle Warrior event is on July 31.
Dig out your kit and get running. Or, if you fancy a more unusual fitness challenge, try stand up paddle boarding on a canal – like balancing on a giant surfboard while propelling yourself along with a large paddle. More info at http://centralsup.net/
Go to a music festival
Birmingham wasn’t really seen as a destination for music festivals until the arrival of Moseley Folk Festival in August 2005.
Since then it has got bigger and better but still retains it’s intimate, hippy vibe. It is also family friendly and right on the doorstep. It will run on September 2, 3 and 4 in 2016.
It has since been joined by Mostly Jazz, Funk and Soul Festival in July each year (July 8-10 in 2016).
Definitely worth booking!
Gaz Coombes at Moseley Folk Festival
Enjoy Independent Birmingham
This is not a political gesture but more about celebrating the best local independents we have around us.
When was the last time you enjoyed croissants from a local bakery? Or sipped coffee in a cafe which isn’t owned by a US conglomerate?
In the last couple of years the city has seen some fine food local shops setting up – the likes of Peel and Stone Bakery in the Jewellery Quarter, or Quarter Horse Coffee which roasts its own coffee in Bristol Street.
And Great Western Arcade, which seemed to be struggling just a few years ago, is bouncing back with a host of independent clothes shops setting up home inside.
If you want to shop in these places and get a discount, it is worth joining Independent Birmingham, a reward card scheme which costs £15 but then gives you deals at more than 75 cafes, restaurants and shops in town.
Graham Young Artisan coffee motif on a latte made with beans from Burundi
Take on a food challenge
Some say January is time to start the diet, we say it is time to take on a food challenge.
Can you eat all of the Hottest Burger in Birmingham – the Flaming Doom – at The Dirty Cow Burger Company in Broad Street for instance?
Or the super-sized veggie burger Death Proof Burger Challenge by street food regular The Vegan Grindhouse?
The Crocodile Inferno – the world’s hottest curry
You could start training now for the annual Chilli Festival at Brindleyplace in September. Lou Witterick has won for the last two years, but perhaps you could unseat her if you have an iron constitution and can handle the heat.
We will certainly be trying a few of these in 2016 so why don’t you join us?
Further afield you could head to Cannock for the world’s hottest crocodile curry at The Dilshad restaurant.
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Lou Witterick is victorious
Get out and enjoy the wildlife
Birmingham has more green spaces than any other European city but if simply heading out into the park isn’t enough to satisfy your craving for nature, you could join a conservation group too.
Most parks and nature reserves have local groups who get together regularly for working parties to improve the areas such as
Friends of Moseley Bog and Friends of Cotteridge Park, the latter being a group of residents who got together to save the park after it was threatened with a loss of services in 1997.
Moseley Bog in Birmingham
Write a book (or read a few)
Radio script writer William Gallagher is running a fiction writing course at the Custard Factory in Birmingham from January 13 to February 17.
It’s intended to be for people who are maybe writing a little but don’t know what to do with their words, or who’ve written something but need guidance with editing and then trying to publish the work.
If you don’t fancy that you could try joining a book club. The Birmingham Book Club has regular meet ups (second Tuesday of each month). The group says it discourages book snobbery and all views are respected.
The next meet is at The Victoria, John Bright Street on January 12.
Learn to cook like a pro
Have you watched MasterChef and felt inadequate in the kitchen?
Want to impress your friends with some culinary talent? We are certainly brushing up our cookery skills here and have dug out a few cookery schools to try.
Michelin-starred Simpsons Restaurant has regular courses on Saturdays from £135 per person (including lunch). Classes start in March 2016.
Harborne Food School is one of the newest places on the block and offers classes and professional chef demos at the Clock Tower building in Harborne.
In January courses include healthy food workshops, how to cook marmalade, bread making and knife skills.
Loaf, a community bakery in Pershore Road, Stirchley, runs excellent courses from bread making to seafood and butchery. Its forage and cook courses are definitely worth trying.
Tom Baker who runs Loaf Bakery and Cookery School in Stirchley
Start watching Peaky Blinders
If you haven’t heard of this hit show yet then where have you been?
We are just a little bit excited about series three of the Birmingham-set drama coming to BBC2 in 2016.
But if you have absolutely no idea who Tommy Shelby is, it’s not too late.
Series 1 and 2 are on DVD and worth setting aside some TV marathon time to prepare for the return in the spring.
Robert Viglasky First official picture from series three of Peaky Blinders
Go on a ghost hunt
Are you up for a haunted evening in a spooky Birmingham landmark? Dare you step into such chilling places as the underground tunnels of Smethwick Baths after dark?
The Smethwick event is on February 20, includes a meal and costs £39. You get to explore spine-chilling rooms like the area once used as a morgue during the Second World War.
Other venues for ghost hunts from www.hauntedevenings.co.uk include Dudley Castle.
Aston Hall is also holding ghost tours of one of Britain’s most haunted buildings on January 23. Tours cost £9 and take place at 5pm, 6.30pm and 8pm – and the organisers say to expect a fright.
Aston Hall in Aston Park, Birmingham at dawn – spooky!
Indulge your artistic side
You don’t have to be a potential Da Vinci to enjoy the Drink and Draw night at Birmingham Art Gallery’s Edwardian Tearooms.
The event, on January 29, is a free social evening for anyone who likes to doodle. The Tearooms will remain open until 10.30pm – pens and paper provided!
Let your alcohol-assisted creativity soar.
Find your inner Dancing Queen
Mamma Mia! has been running in the West End for almost 17 years and been around the world several times – but never stopped off at Birmingham.
But now, for the first time, the hit musical based on Abba songs is finally coming to the city. Don’t worry if our summer is a washout, because Mamma Mia! will transport you to a sunny Greek island for 10 weeks from June 28 to September 3, for a wonderfully joyous, feelgood party.
If you only see one show at the theatre in 2016, make it this one.
Mamma Mia!
Try street food
Birmingham is becoming one of the best places in the country for top quality street food. Who needs to sit down at a table with a knife and fork when the al fresco feasting is this good?
Digbeth Dining Club lead the field with their weekly event, every Friday at Spotlight in Digbeth, starting again from January 29.
The Bournville Waffle Company
This is the home of such top traders as The Meat Shack, The Original Patty Men, Buddha Belly, Low n Slow, The Vegan Grindhouse, Spectacular Goat and Bournville Waffle Company.
Many of these can be spotted at other events in the city like the Kings Heath Dining Club and events organised by Brum Yum Yum like the KingshEATh Streetfood Market.
And if you can’t wait for one of the Original Patty Men’s amazing burgers, then head for their new restaurant at Shaw’s Passage in Digbeth.
Burgers by the Original Patty Men
Go on the trail of Book Benches
Last year the Big Hoot, with its giant owls, captured our imaginations. This year’s equivalent is an arts initiative to get children reading, without them even realising.
The Big Read will see illustrated Book Bench sculptures, shaped as open books, appearing through the city in the summer in museums, libraries and other cultural centres.
Source: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/