Birmingham International Dance Festival

Birmingham International Dance Festival (BIDF) was Birmingham’s biennial international dance festival, produced by Fabric

The final edition of Birmingham International Dance Festival took place in 2022. Following the bankruptcy of Birmingham City Council and changes to its festival strategy after the Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival, essential city funding was withdrawn. Without this funding to match investment from Arts Council England, it was no longer possible to deliver BIDF at the scale, purpose and ambition that defined the festival.

Launched in 2008, BIDF was created to draw greater attention to the region’s vibrant dance sector, expand opportunities for programming, commissioning and collaboration, create more opportunities for people to experience and participate in dance, and position Birmingham as an internationally recognised centre for dance.

Over its 15-year history, BIDF became the largest dance festival in the UK and Birmingham’s signature dance festival. It transformed theatres, civic squares, parks and public spaces across the city with ambitious programmes featuring internationally renowned companies alongside local artists and emerging talent.

The festival invested in new commissions, fostered collaborations, developed partnerships and created opportunities for more dance to be made, supported and presented across the city. It challenged perceptions of what dance could be and where it could happen.

BIDF also generated paid opportunities for artists, producers, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, designers, technicians and the wider creative workforce, contributing to the growth of skills, knowledge and the region’s cultural ecology.

The festival welcomed audiences from Birmingham, across the UK and internationally, contributing to the city’s economy while celebrating Birmingham as a vibrant cultural destination.

From theatres and city streets to schools, galleries, shop windows, canals, parks and playgrounds, and through both live and digital experiences, thousands of people took part in memorable, thought-provoking, joyful and inspiring dance experiences.

Throughout its lifetime, Birmingham International Dance Festival captured imaginations, fostered civic pride and opened new possibilities for artists, audiences and communities to engage with dance. Its legacy continues to influence the city’s dance sector, and Fabric continues to build on this through new collaborations, programmes and opportunities that champion dance across Birmingham and beyond.