Morning Patchers — welcome to your Friday Dispatch.
It’s both a sad and happy day for the arts in Birmingham. Supersonic Festival tickets go on sale today, so there’s good reason to be excited. But it has also been announced that The Electric Cinema, which opened in 1909, will close in a month’s time. Much of Station Street is set to be demolished, to make way for a fifty-storey block of flats — read on to find out more about that.
On politics, we have an update about Oracle — seemingly the least cost-effective decision the City Council has ever made — and the concerns raised over how much is being spent to fix it.
Finally, it’s just left for me to wish you a very happy weekend. Look out for our long-read which will drop into your inbox as usual. Our weekend reads are free— but they are the product of a lot of research, long conversations, editing, fact-checking, proofing and sourcing photos. We love the work we do and have a very good time doing it. But journalism costs money, especially the good-quality stuff, and to keep going, we need plenty of paying readers. So, if you like what we do and can afford to, please consider subscribing today so The Dispatch can keep arriving in your email inbox for years to come. Thank you.
Brum in Brief
🎫Tickets for the renowned, experimental Supersonic music festival are on sale from today. Catch artists like Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Gazelle Twin, Melt-Banana and loads more at the event The Quietus called “Britain’s very best underground festival”. It’s set to be a cracking August weekender. Check out the lineup and buy tickets here.
💰City leaders are unsure exactly how much Oracle, the City Council’s beleaguered IT system, will cost to fix. £86 million had already been allocated for the next two years of repairs with another £45m earmarked for 2025-26. Consultants are currently working on the issue at a cost of approximately £1000 per day, according to Councillor Meirion Jenkins. He raised concerns at an audit committee meeting on Wednesday. Senior officer Fiona Greenway said an interim financial management system was needed. Catch up on Erdington Local.
📽️The Electric Cinema — the UK’s oldest working film theatre — will close at the end of next month. Owners the Markwick family have decided to shut up shop due to their 88-year lease coming to an end. Flat Pack Film Festival published an article on their website saying this will be “deeply damaging” and calling for the “living, breathing cultural venue” to remain. Find out more from their perspective here.
🍿Perhaps we’re feeling emotional about the Electric news but this event with Empire magazine’s film podcast sounds like a good time. The hosts of the award-winning show will be at the Crescent Theatre tonight from 7pm and tickets are £19.
🎭Admittedly, it’s not been a great week for ‘immersive experiences’ but you could take the risk and attend this Victorian Gothic — An Evening of Eerie Deeds show at the West Midlands Police Museum. If you see any depressed oompa-loompas, turn and run.
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