The Conservative Party Conference starts tomorrow, so expect a fair amount of disruption around the city centre – especially the city end of Broad Street around the ICC and Symphony Hall.
Travel advice aside, arts and culture will be getting a foot in the door a few times over the duration, including this lot:
- Jonathan Watkins (Director of Ikon Gallery) has been invited by Jeremy Hunt MP to speak on Sunday. His speech will apparently “highlight the cultural wealth of Birmingham and promote Ikon’s ambition for the creation of a new museum of modern art in the city”
- Screen WM are putting on a fringe event called City as a Platform (reminiscent of the much-referenced, lesser read Dan Hill post) on Monday
- Ed Vaizey MP will be off and about on Monday. He’ll be officially opening Zellig and later on checking out BCU’s Skillset Media Academy
- Rosie Kay Dance Company will be performing Double Points: K at the Symphony Hall on Tuesday
There’s probably more happening too, but those are the ones I’ve come across.
I’ve also been invited, with a bunch of other local bloggers, to go and meet Sayeeda Warsi (Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party and Cabinet Minister without portfolio) and Andrew Mitchell (MP for Sutton Coldfield and Secretary of State for International Development) later today.
The Screen WM event is within the secure zone so you would have to be a conference badge holder to go.
There’s some Creative Industries schmoozing on the Monday evening as well:
http://conservativecreativereception.eventbrite.com/