Events Archives - Page 13 of 19

As the festive period fast approaches, somewhat in unusual circumstances, things wouldn’t be the same without watching a Christmas classic. We’ve put together six Christmas films that you need to watch this Christmas. So what are you waiting for, sit back, open the chocolates and enjoy some cinematic festivity.

6. THE POLAR EXPRESSAt six we have Robert Zemeckis’s animated classic The Polar Express. The Polar Express tells the story of a young boy on Christmas Eve who embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on The Polar Express to meet Santa Clause. The boy’s journey is a memorable one and shows the ways of friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas.

Featuring the voices of Tom Hanks, who was also one of the film’s executive producers, in multiple distinct roles, with Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett and Eddie Deezen in supporting roles.

5. THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROLNumber five brings us to another festive classic, where Michael Caine stars in the 1992 hit, The Muppet Christmas Carol. The film is a retelling of the classic Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his dastardly ways. Come Christmas Eve night though that begins to take a different shape as he is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and future.

Featuring Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, Kermit The Frog as Bob Cratchit and The Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens.

4. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

At four, we have the 1946 classic It’s A Wonderful Life. The story tells of a young George Bailey, overwhelmed by family obligations and a sense of responsibility toward his community. As George increasingly becomes more unhappy, he thinks about ending it all until his life takes a positive step when he meets his guardian angel, Clarence. Clarence goes on to show George what his town would have looked like if it hadn’t been for all his good deeds over the years.

Featuring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore and Henry Travers.

3. DIE HARDOur film choice at number three brings us to LA on Christmas Eve for the action hit Die Hard. Bruce Willis plays NYPD cop John McClane who sets off on a Christmas vacation to visit his wife Holly who works for the Nakatomi Corporation. The couple head to the Nakatomi headquarters for a Christmas party where things start to take a turn for the worst. A group of robbers led by Hans Gruber take control of the building and hold everyone hostage, with the exception of John. With no immediate police response, John embarks on a mission with the lives of the hostages in his hands.

Featuring Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson and Paul Gleason.

2. ELFIt wouldn’t be Christmas without watching Will Ferrell’s great performance as Buddy, in the Christmas hit, Elf. The film begins 30 years prior to the films events. A baby crawls into Santa’s sack and ends up at the North Pole. The baby grows up to be named Buddy and is raised by a group elves. After believing he was part of the elf family, buddy discovers the truth about his birth farther Walter Hobbs and heads to New York to track him down. Buddy soon experiences human culture and when Walter’s relationship with Buddy interferes with his job, he is forced to reevaluate his priorities.

Featuring Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart and Edward Asner.

1. HOME ALONESo we finally get down to number one and how could we forget about Kevin McCallister fending off the troublesome duo of Harry and Marv in Home Alone. As Christmas time arrives the McCallister family set off for their vacation trip to Paris. As the family embark on a mad rush to the airport they completely forget about Kevin who is left at home. Kevin soon realises the situation and starts to enjoy having the house all to himself. As Christmas Eve arrives, Kevin soon learns the danger he is in as two burglers Harry and Marv attempt to break into the McCallister’s home. Kevin acts quickly by wiring up well designed booby traps in order to bring the burglers to justice.

Featuring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard and Roberts Blossom.

Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands. Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint.

On Wednesday 9^th December our award-winning venue Millennium Point hosted an exclusive audience with two of the candidates for Mayor of the West Midlands. Our Level 4 Auditorium space welcomed Mayor Andy Street and Liam Byrne MP, where they were interviewed by Simon Topman (Chairman of Millennium Point).

How The Event Was Presented
The event was lived-streamed to the Millennium Point YouTube channel and was hosted by The Lord Mayor of Birmingham’s Charity. Each mayoral candidate discussed their vision for Birmingham, giving us an insight into the future opportunities and challenges for the region. The event also offered the opportunity for audience members to send in questions for both mayoral candidates. These were read out by Simon Topman, with Andy and Liam giving their responses.The Interviews
Andy Street was the first interview and he discussed some prevalent topics including job opportunities in the construction industry, more leisure potential in Birmingham, addressing industry skill gaps in the region and the road ahead for the hospitality industry recovery, including the need for larger grants.

Once Andy Street had concluded his vision for Birmingham, Liam Byrne was next to discuss his with Simon. Liam discussed a number of topics including building new careers for young people in the region, green manufacturing to support local organisations, building new cancel homes and putting an end to hunger and homelessness.If you missed the event last week or would like to watch any of the discussions again you can access all the content by clicking the button below.

Live Streaming at Millennium Point
Our Events team worked hard behind the scenes to set up this live stream and make sure everything was delivered successfully. There was a number of features included on the live stream including on screen graphics, switching of different camera angles and an introduction video by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham’s Charity. Below you can see some different shots of the set up.We are delighted to announce this package is now available for you to add to your events package. Our award-winning venue prides itself on being forward thinking and always looking ahead for new and exciting ways to enhance our clients event experience. This package offers a professional and affordable live streaming service designed to ensure that your delegates can enjoy your event wherever they are.

If this is something you are interested in then don’t hesitate to contact our friendly Events team today on 0121 202 2200 or email [email protected].

Our award-winning venue Millennium Point is set to host an exclusive audience with two of the candidates for Mayor of the West Midlands.

Andy Street, the current West Midlands Mayor, will join mayoral candidate Liam Byrne MP in conversation on Wednesday 9 December 2020. The virtual event will be live-streamed from Millennium Point and hosted by The Lord Mayor of Birmingham’s Charity. Following an unprecedented year, the event promises to offer a fascinating insight into the future opportunities and challenges for the region. Each mayoral candidate will present their vision for Birmingham followed by a question and answer session from the audience. Local residents and businesses are being invited to register now for the event and for the chance to submit their questions to the candidates.

Abbie Vlahakis, CEO at Millennium Point, says: “We’re delighted to be hosting this event and look forward to welcoming Mayor Andy Street and Liam Byrne MP to Millennium Point. 2020 has been a year like no other and the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted every individual, organisation and business in Birmingham. We’re passionate about our city and its people so it’s a pleasure to facilitate what I’m sure will be an engaging and important discussion about our region’s future. We invite local people across the city to register now, join the conversation and help shape the debate.”

Millennium Point is an award-winning event, conference and exhibition space situated in the heart of Birmingham city centre. Profits from its commercial activity as a venue and landmark public building are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths in the west midlands combined authority.

When and Where can I watch?
‘An audience with Andy Street and Liam Byrne’ will be streamed live from our Level 1 event space on Platform at Millennium Point on Wednesday 9 December 2020 at 4.00 pm. The event is free and will be available to watch live via Millennium Point’s YouTube channel. This is an unmissable opportunity to see the future vision of Birmingham from two candidates for your Mayor of West Midlands.

We love Christmas at Millennium Point, so much so that in 2019 we made it our mission to spread a bit of festive joy. While we can’t be with you and bring you together in the ways that we would like, that doesn’t stop us from helping you get into the season and (hopefully) lift your spirits as we close off what has been an extraordinary and challenging year for a lot of us. Throughout this month we’ll be bringing you a host of Christmas related content from playlists to Christmas gift ideas and much, much more. Kicking off, we’re sharing 4 highlights from Christmas at Millennium Point in 2019.

1. Bringing sparkle to Eastside with lights and a 39ft Christmas Tree!

To show we were serious about our mission, we pulled out all the stops for looking the part. We installed icicle lights across the length of our landmark public building, accompanied by lit star motifs to the left-hand side of the building of the venue. Inside, over 131 metres of icicle lights adorned the balconies on each level with 9 large 3D stars illuminated with ED lights. Lastly, our pièce de résistance, was the installation of our 39ft Christmas tree covered by 23,000 LED Christmas lights in our multi-award-winning venue’s Atrium. If you think putting up your tree is a faff, this tree took Birmingham based company, The Christmas Decorators, twelve hours to put up! You can watch the full time-lapse video of the spectacle below. The tree formed the backdrop for a range of activities we put on throughout December. While we can’t bring those events back for 2020 due to the ongoing restrictions, we’re pleased to say that all the decorations are back! If you’re in the area, come by and check them out for yourself!

2. When Santa and the BBC turned our lights on.

So, we looked the part, but what next? No winter wonderland is complete without a festive light switch on of course! To mark our first ever Christmas celebrations we invited Richie Anderson (Co-host on BBC Radio 2 Zoe Ball Breakfast show) and BBC Midlands Today presenter Rebecca Wood, alongside Santa himself to pull the plunger. The event was attended by our staff, tenants and a few friends. Watch the big moment below!

3. Then Santa and Olaf handed out presents to children

The light switch on wasn’t the only time Santa came to Millennium Point. Santa appeared for several meet and greets over the holiday period. Sitting underneath our Christmas tree on a red and gold throne, accompanied by a nutcracker either side and a mountain of presents; Santa met and handed out gifts to families from all over Birmingham in this completely free series of events. He asked the children for their Christmas lists, posed for photos and brought the excitement and magic ahead of the big day. Alongside the meet and greet, the children were also treated to an assortment of free activities including face painting, games and dancing with Olaf from Disney’s Frozen! We also hosted exclusive meets with Santa for several SEND groups, including a dedicated event for Calthorpe Academy, a 2-19 special needs school in Birmingham city centre.

4. And G4 gave a stunning performance on our steps

Oh yes, and what a performance it was! Prior to their concert at Birmingham Town and Symphony Hall as part of their “G4 Christmas”, the boys took to the steps of our multi-award-winning venue to give an intimate and magical free preview to fans and lovers of all things Christmassy. The operatic four-piece rose to fame on the original series of the X Factor. They reunited in 2014 after disbanding in 2007, with the release of their first post-reunion album ‘G4 Christmas’ followed by a Christmas tour, a tradition which has continued and grown in the years since. One attendee commented, “It was magical, truly breath-taking and I couldn’t have picked a better place to see them than here!” During the performance, the group laughed and chatted to the crowd and afterwards posed for photos before heading off to prepare for their full show.

Look to the future!

Looking back on last year makes us excited for the future. We promise that this won’t be the last of the fun – like Birmingham, we’re coming back for 2021 with all the events and activities you enjoyed so much and when we do, it’s going to be big! In the meantime, if you’re around in Birmingham City centre then please do visit us (but remember your facemask!) and see the decorations for yourself, pose under our giant Christmas tree with nutcrackers, share your photos online, and while you’re in the building, why not have a nice warm drink from the delicious Mulinos?

Join ‘ghostbusters for the night’ Tony and Ryan at Millennium Point for a truly immersive cinematic experience this Halloween. Taking place on Friday 30th October from 7:30 pm, our award-winning venue will be hosting a truly unique and interactive screening of the eighties comedy classic, “Ghostbusters”, alongside four themed cocktails and a very big screen (formerly an IMAX). Tickets cost £34.95 each and include four themed cocktails to enjoy alongside the film.

About the film
After a team of scientists lose their cushy positions at a university in New York City, they decide to become “ghostbusters” to wage a high-tech battle with the supernatural for money. They stumble upon a gateway to another dimension, a doorway that will release evil upon the city. The Ghostbusters must now save New York from complete destruction.

The film features an all-star cast of Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis as the iconic quartet. With a supporting cast which includes Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis and an instantly recognisable theme song, Ghostbusters is one of the defining films of the 80s.

About the event
We’ve partnered with the brilliant Wine Events Company on this unmissable experience. This classic 80’s movie will be paused at appropriate moments to serve you your next Ghostbusters themed cocktail whilst Tony and Ryan demonstrate how to make the cocktail and share some fun movie trivia in this safe, fun and interactive ‘cocktails and movie’ event in our spacious venue with a very big screen.

About tickets
Tickets are priced at £34.95 each (plus Eventbrite booking fee). The ticket price includes entry to the event and four delicious themed cocktails to enjoy throughout the movie. Tickets are only available to buy in bundles of two, three or four to enable you to select adjoining seats for people in your household. You can buy more than one block of tickets at a time however, you will only be able to pick seats as per the seating plan.

Where is Millennium Point?
Millennium Point is in the Eastside of Birmingham City Centre just 5-minutes walk from Moor Street and 15-minutes from Grand Central and the tram. There is also limited parking on-site which means we’re easy to find regardless of how you travel.

How have we made it safe?
Under the current coronavirus measures in Birmingham, you are allowed to attend a film screening providing you do not mix with other households. Millennium Point has been accredited as “COVID secure”. Our award-winning events team at Millennium Point has been working hard to implement new hygiene and safety measures, to ensure all government guidelines. The Auditorium, which at full capacity can host 354 people, has been reduced allow for physical distancing between households, and all seats will be allocated in advance to pre-paid ticket holders. A deep clean will be carried out between performances and all screenings will be contactless and cash-free and staff and cinema-goers alike will be wearing facemasks. Specific details for measures we have taken can be found on the booking page.

Don’t miss the call, and book your tickets today!

See more film and drink experience coming up at Millennium Point including Back to the Future and Love Actually.

Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.

Watch Disney’s Coco this Halloween safe and socially distanced on the giant screen at Millennium Point in Birmingham city centre for £6 per person at 11:30 am on Thursday 29th October.

Our popular safe and socially distanced screenings are back at Millennium Point with Disney Pixar’s Coco (2017). Let the kids enjoy the vibrant colours and toe-tapping rhythms of this modern Disney classic on the giant screen (formerly an IMAX). This is a perfect Halloween activity to get the family out of the house in a safe environment. We’ve taken measures to ensure our screenings are safe which includes limited and assigned seating, cashless and contactless experience, social distancing measures and PPE for our staff.

What’s the film about?
The film follows young Miguel who, despite his family’s generations-old ban on music dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colourful Land of the Dead. After meeting a charming trickster named Héctor, the two new friends embark on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history.

Coco is considered a visual masterpiece with an inspiring soundtrack. Playing at Millennium Point for the first time ever.

Featuring the voice talents of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt and Alanna Ubach, Coco is the first film with a nine-figure budget to feature an all-Latino principal cast. On its release, the film won two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“Remember Me”). It also won Best Animated Film at the BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Critic’s Choice Movie Awards, and Annie Awards.

About tickets
Tickets are priced at the equivalent of £6 per person (plus fees). Tickets are only available to buy in bundles of two, three or four to enable you to select adjoining seats for people in your household. You can buy more than one block of tickets at a time however, you will only be able to pick seats as per the seating plan.

Our safety measures include reduced seating to ensure households are separated.

“I just wanted to say how great mine and family’s experience was watching trolls today. I was very anxious but was immediately put at ease from all things you had implemented to make it COVID safe. It was lovely to do something normal again with my child without a worry. So thank you very much!

Don’t miss out on this fun and affordable half-term event for your family, head on over to the booking page and grab your tickets now!

See more screenings coming up at Millennium Point including Ghostbusters and Back to the Future.

The shortlist for the CHS Awards 2020 has been announced with Millennium Point included alongside more than 30 shortlisted entries across 10 award categories. Now celebrating its sixth year, the CHS Awards provide UK hotels and venues with a fantastic opportunity to showcase their facilities. We’re delighted to announce that Millennium Point has been shortlisted for “Best Independent Venue” alongside the British Motor Museum and Horizon Leeds.

Millennium Point has 17 versatile event spaces, including a 354-seat auditorium that was formerly one of the first IMAX cinemas in Birmingham. Our venue has a team with more than 40 years combined experience in the industry and we are accredited by Venue of Excellence, HBAA and AIM from the Meetings Industry Association. Since the pandemic, our venue was one of the first to release a COVID response in our Client Protection Plan, which outlines our safety and hygiene measures. Recently, we have been accredited with ‘Safe, Clean and Legal’ for our outstanding work to make our venue COVID secure.

Related page: Venue Hire

West Midlands Venues dominate shortlist
Several hospitality and events venues from the West Midlands join alongside Millennium Point in the shortlist including Unique Venues Birmingham (UVB), Park Regis Birmingham, Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre and the British Motor Museum. This representation reinforces the important role the region plays in hospitality and events, tourism and trade – all at risk due to the current pandemic.

Virtual Awards
The Awards were due to take place at the LIVE Show, CHS Birmingham which had naturally been postponed to Spring 2021. The Awards will continue to go ahead as planned on the original date of 27 October, presented virtually with co-hosts and headline sponsors Delegate Wranglers and Preferred Hotels & Resorts.

“Rally together”
Emma Cartmell, Founder of CHS Group said, “Now more than ever we should recognise and celebrate UK hotels, venues and event spaces; particularly individuals who are consistently putting customer service and hospitality at the forefront of their businesses. We’re facing one of the most challenging years and winters, after a perplexing summer. We need to rally together and find comfort in our wins and achievements within our sector and look forward to a bright future that we will have again soon.”

Millennium Point took part in the global #WeMakeEvents demonstration last month alongside thousands of fellow venues to raise awareness for the issues currently facing hospitality and events industry worldwide during the pandemic.

The virtual CHS Awards will take place on 27 October at 6:30 pm on Zoom with audience participation, live performances and cocktail making. To book your free ticket to attend, please visit chsawards.co.uk.

Gather your team and join us as we bring speed quizzing to our spacious Platform bar at Millennium Point.

On Wednesday 4th November from 6:30 pm, join our team at Millennium Point for a safe and socially distanced speedquiz. A speedquiz is a popular spin on the traditional pub quiz. To play you will need a smartphone or tablet as your teams answer pad where questions will be sent straight to your device. It’s fun, fast and no cheating! The top team will win a £50 bar tab for their party. After the quiz, the bar will remain open for you to relax and enjoy. Doors will open at 6 pm if you want to come early and get settled before the quiz starts at 6:30 pm.

We’ve enlisted the help of local speedquizzing legend Stoo Pittaway, who hosts numerous quizzes online and off in venues around Birmingham. Teams are 2-6 people with tickets priced at £5 per person (plus Eventbrite’s booking fee) and can only be purchased through Eventbrite.

Is this event allowed under current guidelines?
Yes, current UK guidelines on Coronavirus state that up to 6 people from different households can meet in this kind of setting. We have limited teams to a maximum of 5 and recommend that this comprise of as few households as possible.

Is Millennium Point safe?
Absolutely. Our team have worked hard to ensure that our award-winning-venue is COVID-secure. We have taken steps to ensure that our events are safe, clean and compliant with the latest government guidelines. Our measures include:

Limited and assigned seating
Table service
Clear signage
Packaged and bottled refreshments
Temperature checks on arrival
Deep cleaning before and after each event
Contactless/cashless bar
Sanitisations stations readily available for your use throughout the venue
PPE & training for all staff

We have run several socially distanced public events since reopening in July, and have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from guests. Millennium Point has recently been accredited with ‘Safe, Clean & Legal’ from Quality in Tourism for our outstanding measures to minimise the risk of the virus. For further information please see our website here.

Do I need to wear a facemask?
You will need to wear a facemask in public areas of the building (i.e. the Atrium on Level 0, on escalators, lifts and stairs) however, under the current guidelines, you do not need to wear a facemask during the event.

What is SpeedQuizzing?
SpeedQuizing is a fun and popular twist on traditional quizzing where teams use a SmartPhone or Tablet to answer questions. Each team gets their own buzzer and additional points are awarded for things like fastest team to answer.

Where is Millennium Point?
Millennium Point is the landmark public building on Curzon street in the Eastside of Birmingham city centre. We’re opposite the future Curzon Street Station, just a 15-minute walk from Birmingham New Street and Digbeth. Additional details on how to get here can be found on our website.

Our landmark building is easy to spot and easy to get to in Birmingham City Centre

Where is Platform?
Platform is our awesome level 1 space equipped with a fully licenced bar. It’s also available for private hire for meetings and corporate gatherings. For further information email [email protected] or call 0121 202 2200.

Two new unique and immersive film screenings are coming to our incredible big screen this autumn at Millennium Point.
Our Auditorium (formerly the IMAX cinema), in our Birmingham city centre-based venue, Millennium Point, will show two iconic movies, offering film buffs the perfect night out, with fan-favourites Ghostbusters and Back to the Future coming to the big screen. Both screenings will include a host of drinks served throughout and movie trivia, in partnership with The Wine Events Company.

Ghostbusters (1984) and Cocktails
Visitors can celebrate Halloween in style on Friday 30^th October with classic 80’s movie Ghostbusters, with The Wine Events Company offering several themed cocktails while guests enjoy the film. The team will be on hand to serve four delicious cocktails throughout the evening and there will also be live cocktail-making demos and fun movie trivia, creating a one-of-a-kind, immersive experience. Doors open from 6.30 pm, for a 7:30 pm start. Tickets are £34.95 (plus booking fee) per person and include four themed cocktails served throughout the event.

Back to the Future (1985) with Wine
The Wine Events Company then returns to Millennium Point in November with a screening of the iconic movie, Back to the Future, celebrating its 35^th birthday. Tickets include five glasses of wine which will be served during the film, with wine buff Tony Elvin carefully selecting five tipples for guests to enjoy. Doors open from 6.30 pm, for a 7:30 pm start. Tickets are £29.95 (plus booking fee) per person and include five glasses of themed wine served throughout the event.

Is it safe (and legal)?
Yes, the current rules for Birmingham state you can still attend this kind of event up to 6 people providing you adhere to social distancing measures. The Millennium Point team have worked tirelessly to implement a number of measures to ensure that the socially distanced screenings are safe for all to enjoy. These include reduced capacity in the auditorium from 354 to 181, wearing facemasks in public areas of the building, temperature checks, sanitisation stations and contactless/cashless experience. Similarly, tickets are only available to purchase in bundles with all seats allocated beforehand to ensure households are not mixing.

Above: Images from Millennium Point’s well-received screening of Sex & the City: The Movie in early August.

“Something normal”
This will be the 6th and 7th socially distanced screening our award-winning Birmingham-based team have organised since lockdown restrictions began to ease in July. Following our socially distanced family screening of Trolls: World Tour in July, one satisfied film-goer commented:

“I just wanted to say how great mine and family’s experience was watching trolls today. I was very anxious but was immediately put at ease from all things you had implemented to make it COVID safe. It was lovely to do something normal again with my child without a worry. So, thank you very much!”

To book tickets for one of Millennium Point’s cinema screening, please visit:

Is Millennium Point a Cinema again?
No, Millennium Point’s Auditorium is neither an IMAX or a regular cinema and has not been since the closure of the Giant Screen Cinema in 2015. Instead, the space has been renovated as an impressive 354-seat auditorium available for private hire, which includes films screenings. These socially distanced screenings are one-off events organised by Millennium Point as part of our ongoing commitment to providing fun and affordable activities for the general public.

For enquires contact [email protected] or call 0121 202 2200.

Our multi-award-winning venue, Millennium Point, will be turning red at 8 pm on Wednesday 30th September to join events professionals from thousands of cities in more than 20 countries in solidarity for #WeMakeEvents.

What is it?
COVID-19 impacts all of us, and while we fully support the need to implement measures which protect people; we also need to underline the severity of the impact it is having on the events and hospitality industry. Despite us being six months further along in the pandemic, there is still little clarity on what the future holds for events and hospitality with no clear roadmap and little in the way of meaningful support for events venues and professionals in the UK.

This is a global movement of empowerment by event professionals to make the public and government aware of what the impact of COVID-19 is having on the events industry and how this will affect all of us. At 8 pm, we will light our building red alongside fellow Birmingham venues. Additionally, the movement across the UK will include, but not be limited to:

60 strategically placed shafts of white light beamed up into the night sky each one signifying 10,000 potential job losses.
Unique projections of what would be taking place inside venues, onto the outside of empty venues to demonstrate what is missing (and may never recover) without the industry.
A series of creative and art installations illustrating the numbers of event professionals either already out of work or at risk.

What does the events industry bring to the UK?
Events and Hospitality are woefully underestimated in its impact on the UK economy. Events facilitate trade; attract inward investment, drive exports; science and medical events disseminate knowledge and share research; events drive visitor economy, drive politics, arts, culture, community, provide safe spaces for marginalised groups and much, much more.

Putting this into local perspective the WMCA is the export capital of the UK, and in 2018 had 131 million visitors – an increase of 2.6% (+3.4m) over the past year. The number of day visitors increased by 2.7% (3.1m) and overnight visitors increased by 2.1% (0.3m). Visits to parks and gardens have increased by 3.8% and museums and galleries increased by 1.4% compared to 2017. The visitor and trade economy is driven by events and hospitality venues and attractions, without which many other industries and infrastructures will fail.

This year alone we have granted more than £360,000 to over 60 STEM projects and initiatives across the region, made possible by our venue.

What about our venue?
Millennium Point is a multi-award-winning conference and events venue and landmark public building, with commercial profits going to our Charitable Trust which invests over £5m back into the West Midlands to support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands. We are reliant on our events and conference venue and our building to ensure the livelihood of our charity through which we make a positive impact on communities locally. The lack of any clear guidance for venues and events or the provision of a roadmap by the UK Government, leaves us, like many, stranded without tools to protect our business or workers.

Despite our highly accredited work making our venue COVID-secure, or our successful series of socially distanced events we’ve hosted to provide entertainment for a nervous public; the exclusion of venues like ours from the Chancellor’s new job retention scheme not only undermines our work to protect our business, our staff and the impact of our charitable trust; but contributes to the series of false starts and ongoing suffocation of the events and hospitality industry during this pandemic.

#WeMakeEvents
Join us at 8 pm on social media as we light up our building in solidarity with our peers and say proudly #WeMakeEvents. You can follow, tag and chat to us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with hashtag #MillenniumPoint. For further information on the movement or to get involved please see here: https://www.wemakeevents.com/uk/

Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands. Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint.