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Retrofit Balsall Heath Summer Events

Join us for family-friendly events in June and July, leading up to Balsall Heath Community Festival. Come along to share and learn about retrofit, meet others in the neighbourhood and celebrate Balsall Heath past, present and future! All events are free, and everyone is welcome.

Workshops leading up to Festival #BHCFest26!

Home Retrofit Pop-Ups

Come and see our model house and take part in the ‘retrofit street drama’, sharing ways to lower our bills and make our homes and neighbourhoods healthier and happier. Free popcorn or ice lollies, depending on the weather! ‍

Tuesday 23rd June, 11.30am – 1.30pm
St Paul’s Venture
Badgemaking and colouring

Wednesday 1st July 2.30pm – 4.30pm
Spark Green Park, Brunswick Rd
with friends of Spark Green Park

Friday 3rd July, 12pm – 2pm
Pickwick Park, St Paul’s Rd
Storytelling and drama

‍East/ West Retrofit Walking Procession

A procession through Balsall Heath with ‘retrofit street drama’ performances, banners, flags, drums and more. Join for as much of the procession as you like, or meet us at one of the happenings along the way! Part of Balsall Heath Community Festival.

Sunday 5th July, 11am – 5pm
11am: Meet at Balsall Heath Park
12pm: Set off
11.30am – 2pm: Seven Streets Park – Activities, refreshments, carnival exhibition. Retrofit-themed mini flag and banner-making workshop
2pm: George St Park – Retrofit model house street drama
3.30pm – 5pm: Calthorpe Park – Drumming workshop and refreshments

Find out more

Retrofit Balsall Heath is delighted to be taking part in Balsall Heath Community Festival 2026.

We’re inviting local residents to join us in a walking procession from east to west across Balsall Heath linking green spaces; from Balsall Heath Park to Calthorpe Park, on Sunday 5th July.

The procession will be the first outing for our brand new Retrofit Balsall Heath banner, made by local residents with local artist Jane Thakoordin.

We also invite you to join us in carrying five further banners, celebrating the strength and resilience of Balsall Heath’s vibrant community, which were made by young people in workshops by Jane, in association with The GAP Arts project and Culture Collective.

Join us for one of our ‘retrofit street drama’ performances, and / or for all or part of the Retrofit walking procession.

We will be meeting in Balsall Heath Park from 11am with Extinction Rebellion’s Drummers ‘Brumbeats’, before we set off at 12 noon bearing our banners and flags.

Drop in to a workshop at Seven Streets Park 11.30am – 1.30pm to make your own mini banner or flag to carry!

As we walk, we will be able to spot solar panels on homes that have been retrofitted, see fruit and nut trees planted by Fruit and Nut Village and view historical information display boards recently installed by Balsall Heath Local History Society.

Our route will take us via Seven Streets Park near Balsall Heath City Farm where there will be a History Exhibition of Balsall Heath Carnival. We will then carry on to George Street Park for another pop-up performance of our model house ‘retrofit street drama’.

Finally we will walk down Edward Rd to the square on the corner of Edward Rd/Court Rd by the offices of local community organisation, MECC Trust and where cooked food will be available from Change Kitchen and other local cafes.

Further free family friendly Festival activities including a Brumbeats Beginners Drumming Workshop will continue in Calthorpe Park.

Join us!

In the lead up to the Community Festival and the East/West Retrofit Walking Procession, we are holding pop-up performances of our model house ‘retrofit street drama’ in Spark Green Park and Pickwick Park, in association with local schools and Friends of Spark Green Park, and at St Paul’s Venture, supported by Balsall Heath Family Hub.

These sessions are open to all and will be family friendly, with free activities for children, supervised by their parents or guardians. They are co-hosted by Retrofit Balsall Heath Community Connectors, who speak a range of local languages.

‍Balsall Heath Community Festival is a week of fun, heritage, and innovation, 3rd – 13th July. For more details about Balsall Heath Community Festival visit the Balsall Heathan website.

Find out more about Retrofit Balsall Heath on our website.

‍‍Sign up to receive our regular newsletters, and / connect with us on social media:

• Instagram: @RetrofitBalsallHeath‍• Facebook: @RetrofitBalsallHeath‍• WhatsApp: Retrofit Balsall Heath group chat

Retrofit Balsall Heath, Retrofit our festival!

Retrofit Balsall Heath are once again playing a crucial role in our festivities for Balsall Heath Community Festival. Loaning a giant billboard to Balsall Heath Local History Society, it has been decorated by over 30 people at a local Woodcraft Folk workshop and Second Saturday at The Old Print Works, it is now ready for installation!

A Collaborative story

The billboard, it’s making and the fabulous smorgesborg of FREE events across Balsall Heath from 3rd to 13th July are very much in place because local organisations are determined to pull together, show the Best of the Heath.

On 5th July Retrofit Balsall Heath are inviting local residents to join in a procession from east to west; from Balsall Heath Park to Calthorpe Park – drumming, dancing and carrying banners made in workshops with local artist Jane Thakoordin celebrating the strength and resilience of Balsall Heath’s vibrant community. Friends of Seven Streets Park are organising one of the stops as are Friends of Balsall Heath Park, George Park and Calthorpe Park with Birmingham Open Space Forum and Balsall Heath Local History Society Carnival Exhibition, entertainment by Fruit and Nut Village, support from Edward Road Baptist Church, and I’m sure I’ve missed a few of our fabulous partner organisations taking part in just one day of our activity.

Ready for Retrofit completion - Billboard hitting the streets any day now! — Ready for Retrofit completion – Billboard hitting the streets any day now!

Love Seven Streets Park

Balsall Heath Carnival in Changing Times Seven Streets

Ten Days of Celebration

Our Community festival begins and ends with Balsall Heathans celebrating Balsall Heath! 3rd July is the 40th Anniversary of Anawim, a celebrated locally based charity now active across Birmingham. With over 60 active Faith Centres in Balsall Heath, anawim are starting a ‘Faith Trail’, exploring and linking faiths across Balsall Heath. More than 20 events later we end our festival on 13th July with Saheli in Calthorpe Park

Draw yourself in

Before the fun even begins, we’re running the legendary colouring competition across Balsall Heath! Anyone is welcome to join – see here for instructions:

Colouring Competition!

Billboard painting — Hard at work painting

Adding colour to our Festival with Retrofit BH

The energy, (and the heat) was high at The Old Print Works as we officially launched some very special additions to this year’s Balsall Heath Community Festival.

Model practice at Retrofit

Retrofit Balsall Heath showcased their fabulous retro model house. Their team ran interactive activities and chatted with residents about how to insulate Balsall Heath’s beautiful (but sometimes drafty!) older housing stock to help cut down energy bills. The model house itself has travelled a fair bit already to local schools, and will be taking to the pavement again for Balsall Heath Community Festival. You’ll get another chance to see the model house in action, taking pride of place in our “East West Retrofit Procession” on Sunday, 5th July, the third day of our mammoth ten-day community celebration!

Retrofit Model House in action in The Old Print Works Cafe

Colouring competition returns

Long-time residents will fondly remember the iconic colouring competitions from the old Balsall Heath Carnival days (1977–2016). Back then, local schools and local organisations would distribute posters, and families would proudly display the finished masterpieces in their front windows for the judges to spot while walking the streets, with fabulous prizes up for grabs!

We loved that tradition so much that we are bringing it back for 2026!

Colouring sheet 2026 – contact bh********************@***il.com – Rules for entry

Save the dates

We are building up to an incredible ten days of celebrating our community. Here is what you need to know right now:

Get those colouring posters filled in and displayed in your windows!
Keep an eye on updates in the Heathan, as more dates and activities are announced
Take part in our mammoth 10-day celebration of everything that makes Balsall Heath amazing.

Share your progress, your finished windows, and festival excitement using the hashtag #BHCFest26!

#BHCFest26

What I love about Balsall Heath

The writer, Toqueer is an award winning Eco activist and blog writer in Birmingham, a volunteer with Retrofit and new writer for the Balsall Heathan:

I first met John Christopher, Zero Carbon House in Balsall Heath at a talk a few years ago, speaking about climate change and the need for real urgency. I got to connect with him and as a volunteer with Birmingham Friends of the Earth and Footsteps at the time. I came across Retrofit Balsall Heath. I love culture and community and a desire to make a difference. I have really enjoyed visiting Balsall Heath Old Print Works and I am a regular visitor at the Balsall Heath Second Saturday, where I enjoy creative stalls and activities. Did you know there is a library too? I love the diversity, there is a large Yemini community, Kashmiri and English people all living together, great food too, something for everyone.

There is a real passion for looking after each other and it was amazing to see all the community and faith communities coming together to help 700 homes in Balsall Heath and Accocks Green to retrofit their homes, its much more than just homes, its about hearts and minds too, supporting families with energy advice, the MECC trust also do a great job and having activities like monthly cycling.

The campaign ‘Raising the slabs‘ was a great success, supporting Melrose avenue to plant fruit trees in their front garden. I recommend local people to consider volunteering and getting involved in your local area, even if you have only a few hours spare a month, Retrofit Balsall Heath is a family, we look after each other and hope to have regular socials.