Young Advocates Stage part of Birmingham Weekender seen at the Bullring

I didn't have time on Sunday 27th August 2023 to stick around for the Birmingham Weekender dances, but had a bit of time to pop up to the Costa at Next at the Bullring. Saw the Young Advocates Stage group waiting behind the stage in Rotunda Square, before noon. Interesting looking costumes.

Birmingham Weekender returned again over the August Bank Holiday weekend, 26th and 27th August 2023.

I almost thought I'd miss seeing it, as was unable to come up on Saturday, but had free time on Sunday morning. And I got to Rotunda Square to see a group in interesting looking costumes, and popped up to Costa Coffee in Next for some views over coffee.

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Young Advocates Stage are young ladies aged between 14 and 22, and they had these green leaf outfits on.

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Best views from Costa at Next above.

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From Costa, I spotted some in zebra and deer costumes.

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They were waiting outside Nationwide and Sunglass Hut.

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Photography by Elliott Brown

Brum's Big Splash, part of Birmingham Weekender at the Bullring

The Birmingham Weekender returned once again, this time the August Bank Holiday Weekend on the 27th and 28th August 2022. Down Central Street (St Martin's Walk) at the Bullring & Grand Central Birmingham, from Rotunda Square, going down was Brum's Big Splash. In association with the Birmingham Hippodrome. A long water slide basically.

Brum's Big Splash

Heading up St Martin's Walk at the Bullring & Grand Central Birmingham (renamed Central Street) was Brum's Big Splash. It was installed and tested the day before on Friday 26th August 2022. But opened on Saturday 27th August 2022, just after 12pm. People who wanted to ride it had to book up a space in advance, but was apparently some walk-up slots.

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I headed up to Costa Coffee in Next, and managed to get a window seat, and got these views, as I saw some people slide down the splash-way!

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This was all part of the Birmingham Weekender, which was held on Saturday the 27th and Sunday the 28th August 2022.

Photos by Elliott Brown

Simulator Rides, customised lorries and buses in Rotunda Square at the Bullring

It's not just the Bullring Bull that you can see in Rotunda Square. Sometimes I see these lorries with Simulator rides, such as F1 or Top Gear, more recently Star Trek: Picard. Other times old buses that have custom liveries are parked up in the square. Mostly recently saw Sonic the Hedgehog on a Game / Sega related one. Other times there maybe cars on show in the square.

Rotunda Square is located at the Bullring between New Street and High Street. With the 24 Hour Route ramps linking Birmingham Moor Street Station to Birmingham New Street Station (if you want to avoid walking under the Bullring along St Martin's Queensway). There are entrances from the West Mall and East Mall leading out onto Rotunda Square.

See also my similar post on this topic from St Martin's Square.

Starting off with Heart FM. OK this first photo isn't in Rotunda Square, but on St Martin's Walk between the West and East Mall's. "Sign it to Win with Arnold Clark". Heart 100.7. This car had signatures all over it. Seen during August 2014. Possibly a Fiat 500.

dndimg alt="Heart FM" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Rotunda Square Heart FM (August 2014).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />

I can confirm that this photo was taken in Rotunda Square. Heart Radio again. Seen during May 2015 with this red car. Heart 96-107. More Music Variety. The view towards Nationwide.

dndimg alt="Heart FM" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Rotunda Square Heart FM (May 2015).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />

Probably the first time I saw one of these Formula 1 simulator rides in Rotunda Square during May 2015.

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It was the McLaren Honda F1 simulator.

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It had an image on the side of Jenson Button. Who was with McLaren at the time. He left F1 around 2016 or 2017.

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The lorry filled up most of the space between Nationwide and Next. Just about space to either walk down St Martin's Walk, or head down the 24 Hour Route towards Moor Street Queensway and Birmingham Moor Street Station.

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The Transformers were in Rotunda Square during August 2015 to promote the Transformers animated series: Transformers: Robots in Disguise. Although the lorry used resembled the one used in the Michael Bay Transformers movies (2007 - 2017).

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The first movie Transformers came out in 2007, followed by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in 2009, Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011, Transformers: Age of Extinction in 2014 and Transformers: The Last Knight in 2017. There was also a Bumblebee prequel released in 2018.

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The back of Optimus Prime.

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A lot of people took notice of Optimus Prime as they passed by.

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Was also this trailer for Transformers: Robots in Disguise. I have not seen this series.

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One more side view of Optimus Prime. In 2015, I did not know at the time that the 5th movie would come out in 2017.

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One year on and Optimus Prime and Transformers: Robots in Disguise was back in Rotunda Square during August 2016. This view was seen from Costa Coffee at Next. By then I knew that Transformers: The Last Knight was in production for release in the summer of 2017. Which I didn't know the year before.

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I saw this old van or pick up truck during September 2015. "Celebrating 400 Years of Originality". It had old cameras to the back. In the direction of Zara Man.

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From the other side towards Zara. Was obviously something camera related. But more likely to be related to the drink Grolsch. 1615-2015. It was a Chevrolet.

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Saw these taxis in Rotunda square near Next during October 2015. They were there for Charlotte Tilbury - Join the Make-Up Revolution.

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Later in October 2015, the BBC Top Gear Experience was in Rotunda Square.

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It was a bit similar to that McLaren F1 ride that was here earlier in 2015.

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It had an image of The Stig on the side of the lorry.

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In November 2016, I saw this vintage London Routemaster bus on tour for Logic Pro. An Electronic Cigarette company.

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This was during the Logic Tour stopping in Birmingham.  The buses licence plate no was VVS 373. I had previously seen this bus used for Virgin Holidays in St Martin's Square (see link at the top of the post to see the photos).

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The backside of the bus for Logic Pro. As I tried to get all the sides that I could.

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This view down St Martin's Walk, busy during the Christmas shopping season. Christmas lights were up.

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Another old London Routemaster bus in Rotunda Square. This one seen during March 2017. Was for the Spring Blooms Tour. Boden Bloom & Wild. The sunshine was a bit bright on this side of the bus.

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Hello Birmingham. The sunlight wasn't as bad from this side.

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The back view as the bus looked very green in the direction of the Rotunda.

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The HSBC Mobile Studio was in this shiny big caravan during July 2017. "Get your free mobile phone case custom designed". Was near Nationwide.

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In August 2017 this Oreo van was in Rotunda Square.

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With the licence plate OR30. They had Choc'o Brownie flavour, Cool Mint flavour, Strawberry Cheesecake flavour and Peanut Butter flavour.

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It was a co-incidence that the Oreo van was here, as around the same time (5 days earlier), Google had announced their (then) new operating system on Android. Android 8 also known as Android Oreo. Google used to name their OS's after sweets. Android is now on version 10 (no sweet related name this time). Android 9 was called Pie.

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Another Formula 1 simulator ride was in Rotunda Square during October 2017. This time it was the Petronas Mercedes-Benz F1 simulator.

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People who went on it could see what it was like for Lewis Hamilton to win the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship. He is a 6 times World Champion, having won F1 during 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

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I saw the Petronas simulator ride / lorry in Rotunda Square, once again during February 2020. Tool this on my smartphone camera. This time it was AMG Petronas Motorsport. Probably the same vehicle as years before. An early morning view before work.

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Game had a bus out in Rotunda Square during December 2017 for Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch.

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It looked like a modern red London bus with a pair of double doors, which buses here in the West Midlands don't have. Several giant images of Super Mario on the side of the bus.

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OK this one isn't in Rotunda Square, but I don't think I saw any vehicles like this in the square during 2018. During August 2018 saw this pink Land Rover on St Martin's Walk between the entrances to the East and West Mall's. Benefit BrowMobile. We Wax Brows. 

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This vehicle was seen in Rotunda Square during February 2019 promoting the (then) new Starbucks Blonde Roast. Saw it on the walk from Birmingham Moor Street Station to the Odeon Cinema on New Street. But I later took this photo on the way back.

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I also got this view of the Starbucks Blonde Roast. But it came out blurry, and even after attempting to fix it, it still looks a bit over processed. But then was heading back to the station and took this too quickly to realise it came out blurry.

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In March 2019, I saw this lorry promoting the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, which by then was on Blu-Ray and DVD. A Biopic based on the rock band Queen (not seen it yet). I unexpectedly saw it with the Amazon Treasure Truck

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An early morning walk up the Bullring during May 2019. And I saw this Republic of Gamers bus in Rotunda Square from St Martin's Walk.

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Much easier to get photos of these buses sometime after 9am than at midday when it is crowded. Also many of the shops hadn't yet opened.

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This bus had the licence plate no YN54 AJY and had the abbreviation Rogbus.

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So much easier to get early in the morning. As I prefer it. Also said ASUS on it.

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Getting close to the end now. Seen during July 2019 was this pink van. Refresh with Blossom Hill. Metro Bank behind was almost finished at the time. Also caught this couple in matching green t-shirts.

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Also during July 2019, Summer in Southside had some caravans at the Bullring. This one saying Cloud with people in sleeping bags with pillows.

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And down on St Martin's Walk, was this caravan for Summer in Southside saying Newbie. EE was advertising having 5G.

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Another early morning at the Bullring in Rotunda Square, during October 2019. As I saw this bus that game had transformed into the Sega Mega Drive with Sonic the Hedgehog. Advertising the Sega Mega Drive Mini (the original Sega Mega Drive came out in the UK in the 1990s).

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The licence plate on the bus was LF52  ZMU and it was a Volvo. Early mornings before work are the best time to get these buses (if I have my main camera on me).

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From the other side before walking up New Street. I used to have a 2nd hand Mega Drive from 1995 (when I turned 13). And I loved the Sonic the Hedgehog games. The movie version came out in February 2020. Sonic 3D was the last new Sonic game on the Mega Drive I was able to get in 1996. By 1997 I was unable to get any more, but switched to PC gaming by then. I later put my Mega Drive on eBay in 2005 (after having it stored away for 10 years). But at one point I got the Sonic Mega Collection on the PC (so got to play the Sonic games again one last time around 2007 I think).

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In December 2019 there was another simulator ride. This time promoting Star Trek: Picard which is being shown in the UK on Amazon Prime Video.

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This was also another early morning before work when I saw this Star Trek Picard display. It started on Amazon Prime in January 2020.

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Was positioned in front of the Nationwide Building Society. I thought it was strange that Picard was on Prime, when Star Trek: Discovery was on Netflix (although E4 has started showing that despite being a Netflix Original programme). Although both are on CBS All Access in the USA.

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I've only started to watch Star Trek Picard on Amazon Prime Video, with 7 episodes released to date (as of March 2020). There is 3 more new episodes yet to be released. I am a (or was) a big Star Trek fan, having grown up on the Star Trek shows during the 1990s with The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Enterprise was released in the early 2000s. Then there was a big gap until Discovery came out on Netflix in 2017. There had been the Viacom / CBS split. Paramount kept the movies, CBS kept the TV shows. But it sounds like that they have re-merged into Viacom CBS.

dndimg alt="Star Trek Picard" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Rotunda Square Star Trek Picard (Dec 2019) (4).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

Photos taken by Elliott Brown.

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Birmingham We Are People with Passion award winner 2020