The 2025 Neighbourhood Futures Festival delivered by Birmingham Settlement saw four days of thought-provoking activities and hope-filled connection, creativity and community in Ladywood.
Taking place at the Birmingham Settlement Nature and Wellbeing Centre next to Edgbaston Reservoir from 26th-29th June, the Neighbourhood Futures Festival brought over 40 brilliant local artists, community partners, youth groups and organisations together to explore what it means to care for our neighbourhoods in the face of climate change, inequality and rapid urban transformation.
From the energy of the amphitheatre to the calm of the forest school, the festival was alive with powerful performances, peaceful moments of reflection, inspiring conversations, meaningful exchanges and joyful play across generations and backgrounds. People of all ages showed what’s possible when communities come together to imagine the futures we want for our city, neighbourhoods, and each other.
Over the epic four days the Birmingham Settlement staff team and volunteers made more than 1,000 sandwiches for the Red Shed Community Cafe, walked tens of thousands of steps over the 3-acre site and welcomed over 2,200 visitors through the gates!
Our Youth Day on Friday was a particular highlight, placing young people centre stage with a full day of panels and creative takeovers co-led by students, activists and youth organisations. As our Youth Panel host Karina Kanda shared:
“Having a dedicated Youth Action Day was a great opportunity to bring together young people and hold intergenerational conversations about the challenges we are facing. The aim was to inspire young people, and I hope this is only the beginning of many more youth days and panel talks.”
We’re incredibly grateful to every artist, speaker, volunteer, partner, sponsor and attendee who helped make the festival so special and to the community and residents who showed up with their imagination and openness.
We’re now reflecting, learning and thinking about how we preserve and build on the festival, particularly as we grow our work with young people.
The challenges of the future (and increasingly, the present) can often feel overwhelming, the global picture too enormous and impossible – but the collective might of our communities and action at a local level gives hope and at very least, kindles more connected, happier and healthier places to call home.
You can explore the full four day programme here.
Thank you for making the 2025 Neighbourhood Futures Festival brilliant! Here are just a few of our favourite festival moments…
The whole festival was so amazing! You all were so supportive – can’t be more grateful. What an incredible thing to be a part of.
We had a beautiful time. A very well organised day with so many activities for both adults and children. Loved it. The staff were great too.
The space just gets more and more beautiful every year and it’s a joy to see.
As every year, it was a wonderful and enriching experience. We very much enjoyed talking with everyone. We had both fun and meaningful conversations.
I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the festival and to send a huge thank you! Having said I might turn up with 20ish, I actually brough 43! And a very good time was had by all. The tug of war definitely featured as a highlight for adults and children alike!
I have nothing but praise for a wonderful festival – I saw several UoB colleagues yesterday who had popped in over the weekend and had a great time. That’s amazing that you’ve managed to provide such a stimulating and diverse range of experiences for people.
A huge thank you to everyone at Birmingham Settlement for coordinating such a thoughtful, fun, and impactful festival. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to contribute, even in a small way, to an event centred around nature, care, and justice.
With thanks to our 2025 festival sponsors:
