Birmingham's B-SIDE festival celebrates 50 years of hip-hop

The B-SIDE Hip Hop Festival takes place across Birmingham from 8 June to 14 June

A huge festival celebrating 50 years since the birth of hip-hop is under way in Birmingham.

The annual B-SIDE festival is taking place from 8 to 14 June at several venues across the city, including the Hippodrome.

The event includes dance, music performances and rap battles alongside workshops, classes and other events.

Ben Pickering, festivals producer, said the free festival was a celebration of hip-hop music and culture.

He told BBC Radio WM the event celebrated the four pillars of the genre: breakdancing, graffiti, DJ-ing and MC-ing.

The free festival celebrates five decades of the hip hop genre

Created in 2016, the event also includes dance and creative workshops with international artists, painting sessions for children and art murals which commemorate hip-hop's five decades.

"All these events are free for people to come on down," Mr Pickering said, adding the full programme would take place "right across the city".

"It's for everyone, it's a family-focused event, it's a community [and] it's really nice," he said.

"It really is open to everyone."

The seven-day festival kicks off with workshops at the Hippodrome on Thursday, alongside an open mic session.

The same theatre is also set to host a dance masterclass and a special screening of a BBC documentary, Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World, on Friday.

An all-day block party is also set to take place on 10 June.

The festival will culminate with a showcase of hip-hop dance theatre on 13 and 14 June.

"Hip-hop really has changed the world, it's everywhere, it's so big and we're just really excited to celebrate it," Mr Pickering added.