Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: City festival sites named

The festival has been funded with £12m from groups including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England

Two city centre areas in Birmingham will become festival sites for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Victoria Square and Smithfield are set to host a free programme of live performances, entertainment, special events and giant screens with livestreams of the Games themselves.

Ten towns and cities across the West Midlands region will also showcase the games, from 28 July to 8 August.

These include Solihull, Coventry, Tamworth, and Telford.

Sports fans will also be able to watch the Games at live sites in Solihull, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton.

The games get under way in less than 50 days

Screens with a livestream of the games will be set up in:

• Coventry - Assembly Festival Garden

• Tamworth - Castle Gardens

• ​Solihull - Mell Square and ​Theatre Square

• Leamington Spa - Pump Room Gardens

• Warwick Festival Site - Market Place

• West Bromwich - Sandwell Valley Showground

• Telford -Southwater One Telford St Quentin Gate

• Wolverhampton - Market Square

• Dudley - Huntingtree Park, Silver Jubilee, Mary Stevens Park, Heath Lane, The Dell Stadium, Netherton Park, Stevens Park​

Opening and closing ceremony celebrations will take place at the Victoria Square Festival site.

'Neighbours get involved'

The Smithfield site - formerly the location for Birmingham's wholesale markets - will also play host to beach volleyball events.

Performers from the Simmer Down Festival, ACE Dance and Music, and the Sandwell and Birmingham Mela will also take to the stage at the site.

Neighbourhood sites in Castle Vale, Sparkhill, Edgbaston, Yardley, Handsworth and Ward End, Selly Oak will also be set up for the festival.

Councillor Mariam Khan said: "The network of festival sites being established for the Commonwealth Games is another great way for people in all neighbourhoods to get involved with the biggest event in our city's history."

For more information, visit the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games page.