Magical Lantern Festival 2016 at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens

I booked a evening ticket to see the Magical Lantern Festival on Saturday 10th December 2016. After a lot of waiting around town, I got the bus to Westbourne Road in Edgbaston. Was there between 4:50pm and 5:30pm. It was raining on my visit, so I got quite soaked going around the trail of colourful lit up Magical Lanterns. I've not been back since (apart from the dinosaurs / ice age)

The Magical Lantern Festival first came to Birmingham at Christmas 2016 at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on Westbourne Road in Edgbaston. It was on from the 25th November 2016 until the 2nd January 2017. They returned to Birmingham for the Christmas 2017 season at Kings Heath Park (I only saw that in the daylight) and back to the Botanical Gardens a year later at Christmas 2018 (I only saw them from the bus or walking past on the Westbourne Road). I'm not aware of if it's returning for the Christmas 2019 season.

You book your ticket online, and get it on Eventbrite with a QR code (or print it out - but the paper version would get wet in the rain).

My visit on the evening on the 10th December 2016 just after 5pm. But it was raining, but I did manage to get around the trail (my camera got wet).

"Merry Christmas". A welcome from Santa.

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2016 with penguins and a snowman. Also presents.

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Colourful birds and flowers.

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A jug of water and flowers.

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A reindeer.

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The Chinese Pagoda that you would find in the middle of Holloway Circus in Birmingham City Centre.

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A Bug's Life. A mushroom and a giant ant.

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A peacock. I've seen real peacocks here in the daylight hours (in the years after this visit).

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Santa Claus in his sleigh.

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The world famous Bullring bull in Magical Lantern form.

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A Christmas tree Magical Lantern style.

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I think this is supposed to look like the glasshouses of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

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One of the clowns.

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Canopy over the fountain.

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Frog on a lily.

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Green ant from A Bug's Life. Or Antz?

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Mushrooms and flowers with water droplets.

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Pearl in an oyster.

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Reindeer and a snowman near the entrance canopy.

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Exiting back onto Westbourne Road, giant teddy bear and presents.

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I've also got daylight photos from Kings Heath Park from December 2017. I will put some of those in another post soon.

For a similar post on the Jurassic Kingdom and Ice Age: The Lost Kingdom events follow this link to this post: Jurassic Kingdom 2017 and Ice Age: The Lost Kingdom 2019 at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

More photos here on my Flickr Magical Lantern Festival including photos from 2016 to 2018.

Photos taken by Elliott Brown.

Follow me on Twitter here ellrbrown.

The Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market 2019

The Frankfurt Christmas Market is setting up in Victoria Square, here's a sneak peek at some of the magical scenes to be found once open soon.

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Photos by Daniel Sturley

Remember when Terminator was on Caroline Street in the Jewellery Quarter (March 2018)

Ahead of the release in cinemas of the sixth Terminator movie (Terminator: Dark Fate) a look back to that time when The Terminator (T800 Model 101) was on Caroline Street in the Jewellery Quarter. This was on the 13th March 2018. When I saw on Twitter / Facebook that he was there I had to see him before he disappeared! I'll be back! Hasta la vista baby!

Somehow I forgot to add Terminator to this post: Characters from Movies and TV spotted around Birmingham and the West Midlands.

On the 13th March 2018 I saw photos on Social Media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) that the Terminator was in the Jewellery Quarter.

So I headed out at lunchtime to see him. Was on Caroline Street just north of St Paul's Square.

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Here he is in close up in the middle of Caroline Street. "I told you I'd be back!".

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The Terminator is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold has played different versions of the T800 in the movies since 1984 (apart from the 4th movie in 2009 when he was Governor of California so that was a CGI version over a stunt double). He was the T850 in T3. 

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Terminator from the back as he looks to the spire of St Paul's Church and to the BT Tower. Not far from The Bloc hotel.

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Terminator: Dark Fate comes out on the 23rd October 2019. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton have just completed a promotional tour of the UK (London). Arnold has been to Birmingham several times for those An Experience with ... events at The ICC.

The movies are as follows: The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator: Salvation (2009), Terminator: Genisys (2015) and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019).

 

Photos taken by Elliott Brown.

Follow me on Twitter here ellrbrown.

Characters from Movies and TV spotted around Birmingham and the West Midlands

I recently saw Paddington Bear at the Tyseley Locomotive Works open day of September 2019, and that reminded me of other similar characters that have been in Birmingham and the West Midlands over the years. Such as Alien, Predator and Iron Man on New Street, Transformers at The Mailbox. Shaun the Sheep at the Bullring. Even the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters at The NEC!

Tyseley Locomotive Works

Paddington Bear was the special guest at the Tyseley Locomotive Works open day / weekend (last weekend of September 2019). Seen here waving to kids, not far from the miniature railway display. Another photographer taking his photo or videoing him on a tripod.

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New Street

Seen at the bottom end of New Street near Rotunda Square and the Bullring was this street entertainer as the Predator. Seen in early January 2014. Predator has been in four movies released between 1987 and 2018 (1987, 1990, 2010 and 2018). Also in two Alien vs Predator movies (2004 and 2007). Also various video games and comic books based on the Predator franchise.

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Alien seen outside of Odeon in January 2014, same day as Predator. Four movies in the Alien Quadrilogy released between 1979 and 1997 (1979, 1986, 1992 and 1997). Also appear in the two Alien vs Predator movies (2004 and 2007). There was also the also the Alien prequel movies (2012 and 2017), but a version of the Xenomorph was mostly in the second prequel movie than in Prometheus.

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Iron Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, seen during March 2014 not far from the High Street and Rotunda Square. Iron Man / Tony Stark has appeared in a lot of the MCU movies released from 2008 onwards, including the Iron Man Trilogy (2008 - 2013), the four Avengers movies (2012 - 2019). Also appearances in the third Captain America movie (2016) and the first MCU Spider-Man movie (2017).

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Bumblebee from the Transformers was outside of the former Lloyds TSB bank on New Street during October 2015 (it is now a TSB bank). He has appeared in all five live action Transformers movies released between 2007 and 2017, as well as his own spin off / prequel released in 2018.

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This Minion was seen at the bottom end of New Street near Rotunda Square and High Street when Vodafone was at that corner (now Metro Bank). This was during March 2016. The Minions are from the Despicable Me movie series. I have never seen this movies or the spin off. The three main Minions are called Stuart, Kevin, and Bob.

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Late December 2018 and after dark at the bottom end of New Street near Rotunda Square in the Bullring. Pikachu and another Minion were seen here. Pikachu is from the Pokemon cartoon, movie and video game series. Was a recent live action Pikachu movie released in 2019 (never saw it apart from the trailers).

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High Street

Super Mario from the famous Nintendo videos was seen on High Street in Birmingham City Centre during September 2014. Games have been released since 1985. Originally on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), then in the 1990s on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Also on the Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii, and other Nintendo consoles. As well as on the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS etc. Also has been several cartoons, and a 1993 live action movie.

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Bullring

Shaun the Sheep seen at the Bullring near the Nelson statue during May 2015. First appearing in the Wallace & Gromit short film from Aardman Animations, A Close Shave (1995). The character was later the star of his own CBBC TV series ( 5 series between 2007 to 2016). In 2015 the first Shaun the Sheep movie was released. A second film due to be released in October 2019.

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Optimus Prime from Transformers, seen in truck mode at Rotunda Square in the Bullring during August 2015, I think promoting the Transformers Prime cartoon series. Although this was the way the character looked like in the live action Transformers movies (2007 - 2017). Was a version in the Bumblebee movie (2018), but resembled the Generation 1 version of the 1980s.

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Raptors from Jurassic World. Seen during October 2015. There has been raptors in the Jurassic Park trilogy (1993 - 2001) as well as in the two Jurassic World movies released so far (2015 and 2018). Expect to see them (or one of them) in the next Jurassic World movie (eta 2021?). They were visiting four UK shopping centres probably promoting Jurassic World's home media release.

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The Stig from Top Gear in Rotunda Square during October 2015. A BBC Top Gear Experience ride.

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Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was at the Bullring during March 2016 ahead of the relase of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the second of the reboot movies. For me the cartoon I remember is the one that started in 1987 (on the BBC they called it Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles). Then there was the TMNT Trilogy released from 1990 to 1993 (Jim Henson Creature Workshop did the first two films). Later a CGI animated movie in 2007. The reboot movie series started in 2014, but the 2016 sequel was the last one of these (I believe the film makers are rebooting the series again). Has been other cartoons, as well as comic books.

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The Mailbox

Another Optimus Prime from Transformers was seen at the top of the steps of The Mailbox during August 2013, but in transformed mode. This was before the redevelopment of The Mailbox. More likely to be a security guard here now than a Transformer!

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Great Charles Street Queensway

One of my earliest Birmingham City Centre Floral Trail photos was taken during September 2009 of Wallace & Gromit on Great Charles Street Queensway (above the entrance to the Queensway tunnel). There has been four short films released between 1989 and 2008 (usually shown on the BBC). A feature film was released in 2005. There has been other TV series featuring the characters as well as adverts, comics and video games.

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Mell Square, Solihull

Seen collecting for charity outside of a Game shop in Mell Square, Solihull during April 2017 was Captain America. In the MCU movies, Cap / Steve Rogers has been in the Captain America Trilogy (2011 - 2016). The four Avengers movies (2012 - 2019). As well as cameos in some of the other movies.

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MCM Birmingham Comic Con at The NEC

The highlight of the follow photos were taken at the MCM Birmingham Comic Con I went to in November 2016 at the Birmingham NEC. It was the only one I went to (not counting the Destination Star Trek conventions I went to). A lot of fans in cosplay.

Bishop from Aliens (1986). Was also other fan recreations of creatures from Aliens here and a powerloader. Bishop was also in Alien 3 (1992) but in a much worse state. Was also a Bishop II in Alien 3 as well as Charles Bishop Wayland in AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004). And a Karl Bishop Wayland in the 2010 video game Aliens vs Predator.

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The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters (1984). There was also a version in the 2016 female Ghostbusters reboot movie. And he was also in the 2009 Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Also appeared in The Real Ghostbusters cartoon of the 1980s.

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The Stig from Top Gear, this time a man in the racing driver outfit.

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2016 was the year of the movie Captain America: Civil War, so here a pair of cosplayers outside of The NEC were recreating the fight between Captain America and Iron Man!

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About a month after I saw Christopher Lloyd at The NEC (during Destination Star Trek Europe), this man was dressed as Doc Brown selling autographs near the Delorean and other memorabilia from Back to the Future. The Doc was in the Back to the Future Trilogy (1985 - 1990). As well as Back to the Future: The Ride, Back to the Future: The Animated Series and Back to the Future: The Game.

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Deadpool on a break. "Wisecracks return in 10 minutes". The first movie Deadpool (that wasn't right) was in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). We later got him in two proper Deadpool movies (released in 2016 and 2018). Whether he'll show up in an MCU movie in the future is unknown, or if they will still be R rated (15 here).

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A variant of a Spider-Man costume near the steps outside of the hall. Spider-Man has appeared in many movies, including the Spider-Man Trilogy (2002 - 2007), the pair of Amazing Spider-Man movies (2012 - 2014). He later joined the MCU in 2016, and has made about 5 appearances in that (including two solo movies in 2017 and 2019 and in two Avengers movies in 2018 and 2019). Also in various cartoons and video games. Including the 2018 PS4 Spider-Man game. In 2018 was also Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (which was an animated CGI movie).

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Photos taken by Elliott Brown.

Follow me on Twitter here ellrbrown.

Barry Flanagan bronze sculptures at the IKON Gallery

There is a free exhibition at the IKON Gallery in Oozells Square (housed in the former Oozells Street Boarding School) by the late sculptor Barry Flanagan. Mostly of bronze hares. They are in the galleries on Level 1 and 2. One is also outside in Oozells Square.

https://www.ikon-gallery.org/event/barry-flanagan/

This free exhibition is on at the IKON Gallery from the 18th September to 24th November 2019. A collection of the sculpted works of the late Barry Flanagan (1941-2009). The gallery is open Tuesday's to Sundays from 11am to 5pm.

Link to his estates official website: Estate of Barry Flanagan.

Thinker on a Rock by Barry Flanagan. A hare with a violin in Oozells Square, Brindleyplace. View towards Piccolino.

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View towards Cielo Italian.

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Bronze Hare sculptures by Barry Flanagan on Level 1 of the IKON Gallery.

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More on Level 2. More bronze hares sculptures by Barry Flanagan.

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I'm sure these pieces have titles, although I'm not sure what they are called. Didn't see any signs with them.

 

Photos taken by Elliott Brown.

Follow me on Twitter here ellrbrown.