Colors: Red Color

2016 sees the launch of the inaugural Birmingham Film Festival. Running from Friday November 25th until Sunday November 27th it will be open to all categories of film genres; from full length features, through to animated shorts. Within this wide remit there will be awards for local film-makers and young film-makers, as well as a special recognition award for film-makers who have overcome adversity.

Proud mum Coleen Rooney has shared an adorable snap of baby Kit giggling with Spider in Socks from the Lamaze Clip ‘n’ Go range. Coleen Rooney is the official celebrity ambassador of TOMY’s leading baby and infant development brand Lamaze. With a range that captures little moments of triumph, the flashes of wonder, that twinkle in baby’s eye, Spider in Socks is the friendliest spider you will ever meet!

The board of Newtown Cultural Project Limited, the organisation behind The Drum, has had to make the very hard decision to wind-down the organisation after over 20 years of service to the international, national and local artistic community, audiences and the wider BAME community by June 2016. This decision does not mean that the doors of The Drum will close, events publicised between now and June 2016 will go ahead as planned.

The actor James Phelps, who starred as 'Fred Weasley' in the Harry Potter film franchise, has turned a surprise trip to London into a magical experience for a young family of Harry Potter fans. The Johnson family, from Los Angeles, California, received the once-in-a-lifetime trip to London, and a one-off VIP tour of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter with James Phelps, after the city's official tourism body, Visitlondon.com identified them as genuine 'super fans' of Harry Potter.

Sharpen your pencils, the trend for colour therapy books is taking on a new brain teasing turn as high street giant, WH Smith, launches Querkles, a colour by numbers craft which has grabbed Australia by storm. Buoyed by promising sales of its colour therapy ranges for adults, WH Smith has branched out into challenge colouring in which budding artists develop and decipher pictures by following numbers and codes.

Up to 30,000 people will descend on Shrewsbury for the town's annual food festival – the biggest of its kind in the West Midlands. It will take place on June 25 and 26. The event has overtaken Ludlow Food Festival as the region's premier celebration of fine food and will play host to a glittering line-up of star chefs, live music and free activities for kids – as well as more than 200 artisan producers.

Six months on since the launch of Grand Central Birmingham, one of the city’s most talked about developments in decades; the centre provides a nationwide platform for young, talented filmmakers.  In a recent partnership, Grand Central has been working with The Year of Arts & Young People in Birmingham (YAY 16), to help engage more young people to take part in opportunities offered by theatres, galleries and concert halls.

The Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Ian Brookfield, is hosting what is believed to be the city’s very first all-day indoor rock festival – to raise money for his chosen charities. The Wolves Mayor Rock Fest takes place at The Slade Rooms this Saturday, April 9 and Cllr Brookfield has teamed up with Facebook fan group Rockers Through The Ages to organise an event celebrating his love of rock music and showcasing some of the best upcoming rock talent in Wolverhampton.

Elvis Costello and US alt-rock legends Mercury Rev headline a stand-out music programme that also features rising star Ry X, MOBO Award winning saxophonist YoLanda Brown, the beautifully melancholic Tindersticks and plenty of folk from The Young’Uns and Teddy Thompson.

From 30 April – 2 May, fans should get ready to join in a galaxy of Star Wars™ themed activities, featuring the brand new 500,000 brick Lego Star Wars Death Star model, as the Force returns stronger than ever to the Legoland Windsor Resort. Guests are invited to dress up and enter the daily costume competition and Lego Star Wars™ characters will meet and greet guests throughout the weekend.

In just six weeks The Way Youth Zone has smashed its yearly membership target, as 3,000 young people from across Wolverhampton are now using the city’s new state-of-the-art facility. Young people are travelling far and wide from across the whole of Wolverhampton, with some members even coming from areas like Walsall and Staffordshire to access the state-of-the-art facility on School Street.

This Easter, Tesco has launched a 'guess what's in the egg' competition to raise money for Help for Heroes. Tesco created an exclusive Help for Heroes chocolate Easter egg in 456 of its Superstores and Extra's stores across the UK donating all 100% profits to the charity.  To celebrate the charitable egg, Tesco has designed a giant six foot replica which took centre stage in the foyer of its Sandhurst Extra store.  

2016 marks the 300th anniversary of the original celebrity gardener Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and Compton Verney - which re-opened for 2016 on the 19th March – has a packed programme of unique events to celebrate. Brown literally changed the landscape of 18th-century England; designing stunning vistas for the gentry by moving hills, creating rivers and lakes in his quest to shape nature to his remarkable vision.