Fierce Festival and the Afterparty... Popperly Wild.

Photo credit: Wearefierce

The Birmingham Fierce Festival, a six day programme of daring international contemporary live art and performance from 15 - 20 October 2024, held every two years at venues around Birmingham.

Review by Ellie Blackwell.

The Birmingham Fierce Festival lets you dive head-first into the city’s kaleidoscopic art-underworld and resurface with your eyes wide open. Giving the city’s most vibrant and unique residents the chance to explore, experiment, and embrace arts at their most original. Though relatively little known, every two years people flock from far and wide and every walk of life to celebrate Fierce and hail its diverse, and pioneering artists through dozens of live art performances throughout October.

My first event unfolded in the breath-taking Birmingham Exchange Building, where Sue Palmer and Sheila Ghelani delved into the forgotten, yet inescapable, history of India and England in their unique ‘show and tell’ performance of Common Salt. Through a range of media including music, poetry, film, props (and humour), their metaphorical journey discovers how India’s precious commodities are bled then inextricably sewn into every fibre of our ‘Britishness’.

Poetical yet accessible, sombre yet funny, if you’re intrigued by history but bored by classrooms, this quirky and original show and tell performance is perfect.

Next, I was taken to Birmingham’s CBSO for the UK premiere of Silenzio!... Not your average opera, the whole piece had an intentionally warped and nightmarish feeling you just couldn’t wake up from. Ingeniously innovative, choreographer Ramona Nagabczyńska uses the ancient Greek practice of aischyrology (comfortably expressing oneself with obscene and vulgar language), to shock her audiences at complete rejection of society’s expectations of women.  Despite the unconventional script, the vocals were wonderful and the harmonies of the four talented performers divine.

If you’re a hardcore theatre goer looking for your next crazy watch, Silenzio! is something you cannot miss. Going from gory to ironically melodramatic, to comical, to absolutely freaking insane the piece had me completely second-guessing the art of performance. Twisting and turning, Silenzio! proved purposefully unpredictable and perturbing to the point when you realised you had a choice. Succumb to its insanity or get utterly lost on the way.

Sadly, I only had time for three events so my last extraordinary experience of the week was Club Fierce, the much-anticipated afterparty. The fun kicked off even before we walked through the door, with a mini bubble machine enthusiastically waved around whilst we queued. Despite its nondescript façade, the venue in the Jewellery Quarter was perfect: spacious, accessible, plenty of security and the lighting was effortlessly on par with the quirky vibes. Club-type music played to kick the party off; not long after the crowd parted and Fatt Butcher’s Congregational dramatically took to the stage accompanied by fire and demonic lighting.

They were just too cool. Funny, majestic, raw, and full of warmth, their passionately flowing lyrics sung for everyone, including the ‘trinity of softboy, femme, and they slash them’. It was sublime. We even got a lyrical masterclass in popper-taking! Then when the silver trays came out, the crowd went popperly wild…

Heartbreakingly their set came to an end, but the stage was swiftly set up for the DJs who completed the night by blasting out ‘It’s Raining Men’. Everyone (DJs included) partied hard with, disco balls, giant balloons, temporary tattoos and dancing fit for the epic music mix.  

As stated by a fellow clubber the vibes were ‘immaculate’ and he was not wrong. Everyone just seemed out for a good time and it struck me that as long as you bring the energy, this is the one night you can never feel out of place.  Suspenders and thongs (and not much else), bubble wrap shirts, skin-tight lycra and flashing boobs were pretty standard.

So, despite a couple of obvious age-restrictions, the Birmingham Fierce festival is an unforgettable and essential experience for any open, and curious mind. Immerse yourself in the iridescent arts of the big city and beyond…

First published by Voicemag

 Discover more:  https://wearefierce.org/