What's On in Birmingham This Weekend

Kids Spooky Halloween Party — Kick off the Halloween weekend with a gloriously low-key fright-fest for the family at The Lounge Boldmere in Sutton Coldfield. Starting at 3:00pm and priced at just £3–£7, this is the perfect soft landing into spooky season — think fancy dress, giggles, and a room full of tiny witches and zombies having the time of their lives. Grab your tickets before the cauldron runs dry.

Skindred - You Got This Tour — Newport's genre-defying legends Skindred bring their irresistible fusion of reggae, metal, and pure rock energy to the O2 Academy Birmingham at 7:00pm, and if you have never seen them live you are genuinely missing one of the most joyful, explosive experiences in British music. The crowd energy at a Skindred show is the stuff of legend — expect sweat, singing, and that unique feeling that the whole room is one organism. Check the website for ticket prices and get there early.

Casino Royale in Concert — Symphony Hall rolls out the red carpet for a cinematic event that is as glamorous as it sounds — the 2006 James Bond classic Casino Royale screened live with a full orchestra performing David Arnold and Chris Cornell's iconic score in real time. Doors open for a 7:30pm showtime, and whether you are a die-hard Bond devotee or simply want a breathtaking Friday night out, the combination of that auditorium's acoustics and a full orchestra is hard to beat. Check the website for pricing and booking.

Professor Brian Cox: Emergence World Tour — The nation's favourite physicist brings his Emergence World Tour to the vast Utilita Arena Birmingham at 7:30pm, and if his television work is anything to go by, prepare to leave feeling simultaneously humbled by the universe and wildly inspired. Cox has a rare gift for making the incomprehensibly vast feel personal and beautiful, and a night in his company is the kind of thing people talk about for years. Check the website for tickets — this one will fill up fast.

Republica - 30 years of Ready To Go! — Three decades on and Saffron's voice is still one of the most thrilling in British pop — Republica celebrate the 30th anniversary of their era-defining debut album at the brilliant Hare And Hounds in Kings Heath, kicking off at 7:30pm. This is a warm, sweaty, wonderfully nostalgic night at one of Birmingham's best independent music venues, and at £20–£31 it is an absolute steal for a band who soundtracked an entire generation's youth.

Kings of the Rollers Royal Rumble Halloween: Birmingham — Forum Digbeth becomes a drum and bass cathedral from 10:00pm as Kings of the Rollers — one of the most beloved acts in the scene — headline a Halloween spectacular that is already the stuff of local legend. Expect the full Halloween treatment: costumes, bass weight that you feel in your chest, and a crowd that knows exactly what it came for. Tickets are £15–£35, and for anyone who loves proper rave culture, this is the unmissable event of the entire weekend.

Raver Tots Halloween Party Birmingham — The genius concept of Raver Tots — a proper rave, in the daytime, designed for tiny humans and their very relieved parents — gets a Halloween makeover at the gorgeous outdoor Luna Springs Digbeth from 1:00pm. Expect confetti cannons, kids in witch hats going absolutely feral on the dancefloor, and grown-ups rediscovering their love of a bassline. Tickets are £15–£19, and frankly it might be the most fun you have all year.

GASWRX Halloween : DJ EZ, Notion, Girls Dont Sync, Yung Singh ++ — If you know, you know — DJ EZ is a genuine legend of UK garage, and seeing him in a venue as raw and electric as GASWRX on Halloween is the kind of night people talk about for years. Doors open at 2:30pm for what promises to be a marathon, immersive Halloween special, with Notion, Girls Dont Sync, and Yung Singh also on the bill. Tickets run from £20–£65, so grab the lower tier before they evaporate.

Tortoise + Tara Clerkin Trio + un.procedure live in Birmingham — For something completely different, Chicago post-rock institution Tortoise bring their hypnotic, genre-defying sound to The Crossing Digbeth at 6:30pm — a venue with the kind of intimacy that makes a great gig feel like a shared secret. Supported by the quietly brilliant Tara Clerkin Trio and un.procedure, this is a bill that rewards curiosity and repays every penny of the £37 ticket price.

Heavy Beat Brass Band Halloween Party with The Beatles Dub Club — The Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath is one of Birmingham's most beloved grassroots music venues, and on Halloween it hosts a collision that should not work but absolutely will: the thunderous Heavy Beat Brass Band sharing the stage with The Beatles Dub Club, reimagining Fab Four classics through a reggae and dub lens. Doors from 7:00pm, tickets £13–£16, and the atmosphere in that room will be something else entirely.

Halloween with Tommy Sandhu - Birmingham — Tommy Sandhu — broadcaster, comedian, and a man who genuinely knows how to work a room — brings his Halloween special to The Glee Club at 6:30pm, promising an evening that is equal parts freaky, funny, and foolish. If you want something that feels celebratory without being aggressively loud, this is your answer: a proper sit-down comedy night with a spooky twist at £22 a ticket.

Murder on the Dancefloor! — Dead Wax does Halloween the way it does everything — with crate-digging taste and zero pretension — and at £2–£5 from 9:00pm, Murder on the Dancefloor is the city's best-value late-night option by some distance. Expect a killer selection of disco, funk, and pop served up in one of Digbeth's most characterful rooms, with a crowd in full fancy dress making it feel genuinely carnivalesque.

Cadbury World - Standard Entry — If you're looking for a Sunday that smells of chocolate and feels like pure joy, Cadbury World is the answer. Families and self-confessed sweet-tooths can wander through the story of Britain's most beloved cocoa empire, with plenty of tastings, immersive rooms, and that warm, sugary smell that hits you the moment you walk through the door. Doors open at 10:00am — check the website for pricing and to book your slot before it sells out.

An Afternoon with Mr Scruff — A true Sunday afternoon institution: Mr Scruff, the Manchester DJ and tea-enthusiast extraordinaire, brings his famously eclectic, genre-hopping sets to the brilliant Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath at 4:00pm. Expect jazz, hip-hop, funk, and a dozen genres you couldn't name but will absolutely love, delivered with the warm, unpredictable energy that has made him a cult favourite for over two decades. At £18, this is outstanding value for a man who genuinely sounds like he's having the time of his life every single time he plays.

Sholay in Concert (12A) — One of the greatest films ever made gets the full live orchestra treatment at Symphony Hall, and honestly, where else would you want to be at 5:00pm on a November evening? Sholay — the 1975 Bollywood epic that redefined Indian cinema — is projected on the big screen while a live ensemble performs its iconic score in real time, creating a spine-tingling collision of sight and sound. Check the website for tickets and prepare to have your breath taken away.

Cody Johnson — Texas country star Cody Johnson rolls into Utilita Arena Birmingham at 6:00pm, and if you've never seen him live, be warned: he is absolutely the real deal, a hard-working, hat-wearing honky-tonk force of nature with a voice that could fill a canyon. This is a big-room arena show with all the energy and atmosphere that implies — country fans will already have their tickets, but if you're curious, do not sleep on it. Check the website for availability.

Static Dress — Post-hardcore favourites Static Dress bring their intense, emotionally charged live show to the O2 Academy2 at 7:00pm, and if you like your Sunday evenings to come with a surge of adrenaline and some genuinely cathartic guitar work, this is the one. The band have been building a fiercely devoted following on the UK underground scene and their live performances have a raw, urgent quality that you simply cannot replicate through headphones. Check the website for tickets.

houseparty. Sundays — Round the night off properly at Deadwax Digbeth, where houseparty. Sundays kicks off at 9:00pm and turns one of Birmingham's most characterful vinyl-loving venues into exactly what it sounds like — a proper, warm, communal party. Digbeth after dark has an energy all of its own, and Deadwax channels it brilliantly; check the website for lineup details and tickets, and give yourself permission to start the working week a little bleary-eyed.