To support this new insight, the Chicago and Illinois Tourist Office are recruiting the first ever Route 66 Ambassador from the UK. They will travel along legendary Route 66, experiencing everything it has to offer and then present their findings and recommendations to the British public via an online blog, consisting of photos and video snippets, housed on the www.gochicago.com website. This will let people see firsthand what’s on offer in a fun and engaging way, as well as the chance to learn everything they need to know about the route from a UK perspective. Perfect!

The winner will have the opportunity to travel to Chicago and Illinois for one week and experience a real slice of American pie. Often referred to as the “Mother Road,” the route includes an expansive mix of metropolitan chic from its start in Chicago, to vintage charm at attractions across the state, like Shea’s Gas Station Museum in Springfield and the Polk-a-Dot Drive diner in Braidwood.

So if you are a budding photographer, the next big thing in the world of presenting, a tourism guru or just enjoy the feeling of the wind and nothing but the open road in front of you, then this could be the start of something exciting.

Interested? Then all you have to do is log on to www.gochicago.com to nominate yourself. Nominations take place from 4^th - 23^rd May, then the general public will have three weeks to cast their votes as to who they think will make the best Illinois Route 66 Ambassador. So it’s up to you to drum up support from your friends, family and colleagues and get them to vote for you to be considered part of the final five who will make it through to the judging panel.

Hurry, start your adventure today!

WITH LAUNCH OF TAXI LOTTERY

The Chicago and Illinois Tourist Office (CITO) are giving busy Brummies free cab rides and a chance to win a Simply Magnificent shopping spree holiday in America’s favorite lakefront city.  Chicago has released a fleet of 10 marked taxis that will be driving the streets of Birmingham, Chicago’s sister city, waiting to be hailed by lucky commuters between the 15^th October and the 15^th November 2009.

On the first and last days of the campaign, in lottery style, one of the 10 Chicago taxis will be offering free rides* within Birmingham city centre limits, courtesy of the CITO. The lucky “free” taxi will remain undistinguished from the others.

Once inside one of the “Chicago” taxis, commuters will find details on how to enter the competition to win a luxurious holiday and indulgent shopping spree in the heart of downtown Chicago.  To qualify for this once in a life time opportunity, entrants must correctly answer a specific question about Chicago at gochicago.com/win before 15^th November.  Terms and conditions

Jan Kostner, deputy director, Chicago and Illinois Tourist Office, said, “The Chicago-branded taxis highlight our diverse shopping scene and holiday shopping incentives while giving Brummie’s a taste of the city – on us.  Through the free rides and complimentary holiday, we will show people why Chicago is the ideal city-break”.

Chicago is proud to partner with the city of Birmingham for this exciting event and hopes to energise and excite travelers from the UK to experience all there is to see, do, taste and try in the city of Chicago.

For insider travel tips, follow @GoChicagoUK on twitter and learn more about Chicago and Illinois at www.gochicago.com.

Super stylish soft drinks brand bottlegreen will be exhibiting at the show (visit the Oasis to see bottlegreen’s glamourous limited edition bottle design created by textile student Rachel Pitman) and has teamed up with What’s on in Brum? to giveaway five pairs of VIP tickets* (worth £38 for a pair) for you and friend plus a luxury bottlegreen hamper for each of the five winners. Each hamper is filled with a selection of its mouth-watering cordials and sparkling pressés, including our new Williams Pear & Elderflower sparkling pressé - the perfect refreshment for the stylish gal or guy about town!** www.bottlegreen.co.uk

To enter simply email mail@zimma.co.uk with the subject ‘I want to go to Style in the City’ by Sunday the 13th of September. Include your name, postal address and phone number. Winners will be picked at random. Good luck!

To find out more about The Sunday Times Style in the City, visit http://www.styleinthecityevent.co.uk

* Valid for use on Thursday 24^th and Friday 25^th September.

** bottlegreen’s sophisticated range of cordials are delicious not only with natural spring or sparkling water but can also be added to cocktails for extra zest. Alternatively, for a bit of fizz, bottlegreen’s sparkling pressés are gently blended with sparkling spring water to create a crisp refreshment with a subtle finish. Each pressé is ideal as a non-alcoholic alternative or can be mixed with spirits for a unique and delicious cocktail. bottlegreen’s drinks contain no artificial flavours, colours or sweeteners.

News Release: Mr Elephant brings the festival atmosphere to Kings Heath

The official festival season commences this weekend and the Mr Elephant collective has something special lined up for the people of Birmingham.

On Saturday 23rd May, Mr Elephant will be celebrating it’s 2nd birthday with an all inclusive festival-style, 12 hour event. Free workshops, acoustic, dance and live stages, reflexology, art activities, prizes, stalls, and food will all be available at the Hare and Hounds pub on Kings Heath High Street from 3pm.

The programme of workshops, presented by a host of great workshop facilitators, will be an opportunity for local people to try out an exciting range of creative practices. The local community of all ages are invited to try their hand at drumming, mask decorating, animation, beatboxing, VJing and “poodle making”. Where suitable, over 18’s will see their creations in action and even get to perform in the evening.

Co-founder and award winning DJ and promoter, Marc Reck, says: “We wanted to create something that would appeal to and promote the huge spectrum of diversity in our city of Birmingham. Not just on an artist level, but also on a grassroots level. Underground events, live music gigs, family days, and creative workshops all work really well together if they are programmed imaginatively.”

The festivities continue into the evening with a huge line up of local and international artists appearing on various stages. There are plenty of ways to get involved with the celebrations, including the now infamous mr elephant midnight parade. When the clock strikes midnight, guests are invited to parade their mask, promenade their poodle, play their percussion and be part of the interactive performance.

All events from 3pm to 7pm are free. Thereafter, there is an entrance charge of £7 adv for the evening performances.

Tickets for the evening event can be purchased from The Ticket Sellers.

Artists for the evening include: Dub Fx, Alphadrive, Bass6, Circadia, Jam Jah, Jerome Hill, Osmosis, Rich Batsford, Laura Louise, Marc Reck, TheLab, Blendstate, Dramask, Hare & Hounds venue, Project X Presents

A budding DJ gets to grips with the technology at last year’s Family Event

Local stall holder, selling vintage clothing at last year’s Celebrate Birmingham Underground festival

Xhibition

A day of exhibition and performance to challenge, explore and celebrate Moseley

Saturday May 9th - in various venues in and around Moseley Village - exhibitions of art from Midday, with musical programmes in the evening and  physical theatre performances and installations in and around the area.

Since our debut event in July 2006, the creative network Project X Presents has produced a series of live events fusing many differing strands of creative activity into one cohesive whole - these unique events being dubbed “omnimedia experiences”. 

For Xhibition, we turn the emphasis towards the identity of a place and to the exhibition of static, physical art - although being the multi-faceted group we are, we couldn’t resist adding musical and theatrical performance into the mix.

And so we will make an exhibition of ourselves in a place with the reputation as Birmingham’s beating cultural heart - Moseley Village.  We will celebrate the rich vibrancy of Moseley whilst also questioning whether its artistic reputation is fully deserved.   Is it still a creative, bohemian hotbed, or has it become province of commuters, shoppers and late night drinkers looking for an alternative Broad Street?

We offer an exhibition of a number of local artists featuring new work from legendary cartoonist Hunt Emerson, a new photographic composition from our favourite of the many talented local photographers - Matt Murtagh, plus fine art from Mandy Kasafir, Nisha Grover, Gabriella Gardosi, Matt Robinson and a number of Project X regulars alongside interactive installations from our inhouse design team, Object X.

Entry to everything is FREE except the evenings programme Upstairs at The Cross which is £5 on the door.

The next Stupid Underground takes place on Easter Bank Holiday Saturday, is also a marquee event and will be FREE before 11.30pm.

Tickets for 2manydjs on Friday 13^th March and any Custard Factory event are available from the following places;

Online: www.theticketsellers.co.uk

24 hour phone line: 0844 870 0000

In person from the new Ticket Sellers box office at The Custard Factory

For more info go to www.factoryclub.co.uk or call 07852 178 159

Friday 13^th March 2009

22:00 – 05:00

The Custard Factory

Gibb Street, Birmingham, B9 4AA

Hope you can join us to celebrate eight years of Heducation. This last year, in particular, has been unbelievable for us, with guests including Public Enemy, Sugarhill Gang, MC Black Thought from The Roots, Plastic Little, DJ Vadim, and three DMC World Champions – DJ Rafik, DJ Switch & Cutmaster Swift.

We want to say thanks to all those who have supported us over the last 8 years. including everyone who`s been down to the events, and also to all the amazing local talent, and hard-working residents.

We are conscious that recent parties have been a bit more expensive than normal, so we wanted to even the balance, and throw a free one. Download free invites from:
JPG - http://www.mylz.co.uk/heducation/flyers/8thBdayEFlyer.jpg
PDF - http://www.mylz.co.uk/heducation/flyers/8thBdayEFlyerPrint.pdf

We’re gonna get back to our roots, and have invited our favourite resident DJs from over the years.

In The Dancefloor: Party Hip Hop, Heavyweight Funk & Block Rockin Breaks

MYLZ
ADIOS
CRO
STX
COLA
MR BUSY
THE DOCTOR

In the bar: Chill Out - Reggae, Dub, Spoken Word, Beats & Breaks, Soul, Funk

New Year @ The Custard Factory.

With a  top notch line up including @ 2 Many Dj’s, Simian Mobile Disco, and Plump Dj’s - The Custard Factory was a likely choice for us on New Years Eve.

The pool had been drained, and a marquee erected to keep the worst of the weather off, it was the real focus point for the night. Heavy Feet saw in the new year, with the traditional countdown and some excellent sparks and bangs. Ticker tape exploded and rained down on the ecstatic crowd.

Over in the Medicine Bar, Joebot provide an excellent set, which was followed by the consistently superb  duo of breaks - The Plump Dj’s, who performed a very tight and energetic set.

The vibe in all arenas was particularly good, and we reckon there were just the right amount of people in. Nice and busy and atmospheric, while still very easy to move about and around, and no stupid mile long ques for the toilets or bar. The security were friendly, and helpful. The ques to get in didn’t look too long either.

Back in the Marquee, Pete Jordan put on great mixture of breaks, electro, dubstep and all things funky and upbeat. Although only supposed to be on till 1:30, by 2:15 it was becoming apparent that headliners 2 Many Djs were unlikely to make an appearance (Due to possible bad weather conditions hindering arrival from elsewhere in the country). Pete was left in the driving seat, and continued to pull tune after tune out of the bag, and extend his set by around double - while making no compromise on the quality.

Simian Mobile Disco hit the decks around 3:30 and pulled the crowd through the night until the wee hours. Their unique sounds filling the air and giving a boost of energy to the remaining revelers.

It was a superb way to see in the new year, and can only be described as a very smooth running and enjoyable event. We’ve already started to hear about some NYE disasters at other events in the city, with events being cancelled, moved, being overly busy, clubs being emptied because of fights, and other general disarray. We’re thankful to report then, that the Custard Factory was a very enoyable night full of fun and frolics.

Words / Pics  - Tom Horton

Full gallery of Custard Factory New Year Photos

This is quite simply, one of the biggest New Years Eve parties in the country.

Considered by many to be the most current and high profile NYE show ever at the Custard Factory, this line up is simply the crème-de-la-crème of electronic music.

Headlining in the lakeside marquee are the awesome 2manydjs, a firm favourite at the Custard Factory – in fact they sold more tickets for their last show in Birmingham than they did anywhere else in the country.

2manydjs changed the face of dance music with the release of their first compilation album back in 2003. Their albums and remixes cross the borders between indie, Rock’n’Roll, R&B, and turn it all into one big rave. Expect Dolly Parton rubbing shoulders with Destiny’s Child, ZZ Top blending into The Klaxons and massive recent remixes of MGMT and The Chemical Brothers.
2manyDJs are the biggest name in electronic music. Everybody wants them on their remixes. Everybody wants them on their flyers. And we’ve got them on New Years Eve!

We’re also proud to present Simian Mobile Disco in the Marquee for what is going to be the biggest night of the year. Since the massive success of ‘We Are Your Friends’ they’ve cemented themselves as the new stars of the electro scene, smashing up dance floors around the world with a sublime mix of their own remixes and massive floor fillers.

Simian Mobile Disco are without doubt one of the hottest names at the moment, and they’ll be dancing behind the decks just as hard as the crowd in front of them. When they played here earlier this year, they pulled in over 3000 people, so they can’t wait to play again on NYE.

Meanwhile, in the Factory Club, Stupid Underground will be taking control. Stupid Underground have become renowned for putting on some of the biggest free parties the city has ever seen and are fronted by resident DJ Get Carter. The Plump DJs blend of storming broken beats will force the dance floor into submission. They’ve played at Custard several times now and have become solid Factory favourites.  This year has been a good one for The Plumps, having picked up ‘Best Producer’ and ‘Best Single’ at the International Breakbeat awards, but they’ll be leaving those on the mantelpiece at home. The only thing on their mind will be blowing the crowd out of their minds.

The third room of music will take place in a space that even Custard Factory diehards may be unaware of known as The Gallery. Deuce Soundsystem hosted this fresh warehouse space for The Factory 13th Birthday back in November and they will be back in there again on New Years Eve only this time they will be joined by new kids on the block “We’re Not Famous”. Expect underground house & minimal techno with some fidget and bassline house thrown in for good measure.

There will also be a street shut down with cocktail bars & food stalls. Extra seating will be available in The Kitchen and The Old Library.

Finally if you really want to live it up there are a limited number of VIP tickets available for just £45. This will gain you access to the exclusive VIP area which will have a private bar & comfortable seating. This will also be where the DJs will be hanging out before and after their sets.

WEDNESDAY 31ST DECEMBER 2008/09
CUSTARD FACTORY
GIBB STREET
DIGBETH
BIRMINGHAM
B9 4AA

TIMES: 9PM-6AM
INFO: 07852 178 159
EMAIL: steve@factoryevents.co.uk

TICKET PRICES:
EARLY BIRDS £25 / £20 NUS
GENERAL TICKETS £32.50 / £27.50 NUS
MORE ON THE DOOR
VIP TICKETS £45
INCLUDES QUEUE JUMP ENTRANCE,
EXCLUSIVE AREA WITH PRIVATE BAR, COMFY SEATING AND AMBIENT LIGHTING

CREDIT CARD HOTLINE 0844 870 0000
ONLINE TICKETS: www.theticketsellers.co.uk
OUTLETS:
SWORDFISH RECORDS 0121 633 4859
OLD SKOOL DAZE (SELLY OAK) 0121 472 0777
JIBBERING RECORDS (MOSELEY) 0121 449 4551
SMOKIN VINYL (ERDINGTON) 0121 373 7051

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Find us on Facebook
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www.myspace.com/custardfactory
www.factoryevents.co.uk

Factory Events, Heducation, Scratch Club, in association with Primary Talent presents
PUBLIC ENEMY

Live on stage – Only UK date!!!

Wednesday 3rd December

@ Space2
Custard Factory
Gibb Street
Birmingham
B9 4AA

£20 + bf
www.theticketsellers.co.uk - CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS
Doors 7pm - 2AM. PE on stage 10 - 11.30pm.

Support from:
DJ Switch (DMC World Champion)
The Lost Generation (live)
MC Serocee (live)
Barrowclough (live)
Mylz
The Doctor
Malicious
Sammy B Side
Hosted by Style One