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Supersonic Festival 2014

“Birmingham’s Supersonic Festival occupies an exalted position at the vanguard of the festival circuit. And rightly so. Since its inception over ten years ago, it has maintained a staggeringly focused and intelligent curatorial policy, transcending the music and art worlds to present a programme teeming with invention, audience participation and a certain amount of unpredictability. It’s also a bloody good knees up.” The Skinny

For one weekend each year Digbeth’s arches vibrate with strange, wonderful sounds as the Custard Factory becomes the focal point for one of the UK’s most distinctive and respected music festivals…Supersonic Festival.

Back by popular demand and after a successful 10 years of existence, Supersonic Festival return and are taking the event back to its core values by curating ‘Supersonic Festival Ltd Edtn’ an intimate two day event. On 30th and 31st May, Capsule present Supersonic Festival Ltd Edtn and shall return to the Custard Factory where it all began.

Since the inception of Supersonic Festival in 2003, Capsule have firmly established the event as a unique,  inner-city festival, with an undeniably vibrant atmosphere, always presenting a variety of performers – the inaugural event featured the bewildering blend of Coil, DJ Food, LCD soundsystem, The Bug and more – and where the film programme, workshops and exhibitions are as paramount to the event’s atmosphere as the live performances. Year in, year out, Capsule unite discerning music fans, embracing eclectic tastes and have over the years adapted a creative space for music lovers, musicians, artists, filmmakers, record stalls and independent businesses to thrive.

As this is a limited event, there are only 400 weekend tickets available at just £45 and they will be going on sale on Friday morning at 10am, so grab them while you can via the www.theticketsellers.co.uk

As ever, Capsule’s programme has a sense of spectacle at the very heart of it, always aiming to capture the imagination of the audience, and with a friendly, bustling atmosphere to boot, there is little wonder why the festival draws fans, performers and industry folks from across the globe.

“Supersonic is a place to be educated and surprised: new, experimental and intellectually nourishing.” WIRE

“Having been a journalist for 15 years I’ve had cause to work at approaching 100 festivals all over the world and in my opinion Supersonic has the consistently best quality line-ups and is the most engaging and stimulating to fans of underground music. Certainly no other festival introduces me to more new and exciting music than this one.” THE QUIETUS

“Capsule’s Supersonic festival has evolved…to consistently provide one of UK’s most anticipated Festival line-ups. Fans of dubstep, krautrock, free-jazz and doom metal were all catered for on a bill which promised to both rupture the ears while stimulating the mind through its diverse selection of music, film and specialist talks.” CLASH


Market Place

A space for independent distributors, record labels,  poster artists and peddlers of curiosities to sell their wares, network and for you to meet face to face.  The Market Place is also where the bands sell their merch. This area is equipped with a tea room serving a selection of epicurean delights.

If you are interested in operating a stall at Supersonic 2014 please contact us by March 31st for details. You can get in touch with us at [email protected]


Sponsors


Hotels

 


Paragon Hotel (5 mins walk)
145 Alcester Street, Birmingham, B12 0PJ
0121 627 0627

Paragon is our partner hotel and conveniently located near to the festival.

*PLEASE NOTE:  For DISCOUNTED ROOMS*

Contact Jayde Reservations [email protected]

Reference : Capsule 12.06.15 for details on the festival rates for 2015

To book rooms at the normal rate however otherwise please also see LateRooms for further options.

 


arc_apartments

Arc Apartments (10 mins walk)

*         15% discount for bookings of 2 nights or more
*        great for groups
*         Offer available from 29th May – 2nd June
*         Bookings must be made by contacting Simantha Lewis-Brown on 0121 622 7020
or [email protected] and quoting  “Super2015”
*         Limited spaces available so bookings must be made quickly!

 

Budget recommendations:

Britannia Hotel Birmingham (10 mins walk from festival site)
New Street, Birmingham, B2 4RX

Birmingham Central Backpackers
Five minute walk from the Bull Ring, a three minute walk from the Digbeth Coach Station and a five minute walk from the Custard Factory.
6-8 bed dorms – regular £16.00 pppn, special large group rate – £14.50 pppn
POD dorm/four bed dorm – £20.00 pppn
Private rooms are available prices start at £20 per night
Check website for full details.

T: 0121 643 0033
E: info[at]birminghamcentralbackpackers.com

Hatters Hostel
Near Snow Hill railway station.  30-40 minute walk from Custard Factory.
Singles from £45, doubles from £55, triples from £81 plus a range of 4-12 bed rooms
Check website for full details.


 


Directions


View Larger Map

Supersonic Festival entrance is located on Floodgate street. We are using two adjacent venues: The Crossing (at South & City College Birmingham) High Street Deritend Birmingham, West Midlands B5 5SU and Boxxed 104-108 Floodgate Street Birmingham, West Midlands B5 5SR

 

BY PLANE

Birmingham International Airport (BHX) has a number of budget flights from Europe and further a field, it is located less than 30 mins by taxi to Birmingham city centre or there is a train which takes about 15mins.
www.birminghamairport.co.uk

 

BY TRAIN

The site is a 10 minute walk from both New Street Station and Moor Street Station.

Exit New Street Station via the main doors (signposted taxi rank). Turn right and walk under the tunnel past bike racks. As you approach Debenhams, turn LEFT and walk through the tunnel. Ahead of you will be Moor Street Station. Continue forward with Moor Street Station on your left and the entrance to Moor St Carpark ahead. At the crossing turn RIGHT (The Bull Ring Tavern ahead of you). Turn LEFT onto High Street Deritend and continue forward (with the Selfridges building directly behind you). On your left you will pass The Fancy Fabric Store, Birmingham Barfly, before arriving at South and City College Birmingham College. Turn left onto Floodgate Street where you will find the festival entrance. If you reach The Custard factory or The Old Crown pub you have gone too far!

BY COACH

Birmingham Central Coach Station is located diagonally across the road from South and City College.

BY CAR

Digbeth is easily accessible from M6, M5 and M42.

Whichever direction you’re coming from to get to Birmingham, follow signs for the A41. Once you’re on the A41, continue to follow signs for the City Centre. You’ll find yourself heading towards town, slightly downhill along a road called Digbeth. You’ll pass through a couple of sets of traffic lights before seeing a Renault garage on your left

Either– get into the right-hand filter lane for the next set of lights. You should see an old-fashioned pub on your right called The Old Crown. Floodgate street is the next road on the right Take the right hand turn at this corner into Heath Mill Lane. A few hundred yards along and to your right, next to Air nightclub, is the entrance to the Custard Factory car park (its gates made up of the cubes of squashed cars).

Or continue forward and turn immediate left after The Irish Centre and where slightly cheaper parking is available in Stone yard car park.

There is also some street parking available in the evenings.

GOCARSHARE

We’re working with goCarShare to encourage people to pool their car journey to the festival. It’s an opportunity to save money and reduce your environmental impact. So if you need a ride to Supersonic, have a look here http://gocarshare.com/festival/supersonic-festival

PARKING

There are many car parks available nearby, the closest being the Custard Factory car park on Heath Mill Lane, Digbeth, B9.

TAXIS

There are loads of taxi firms in Birmingham – here’s numbers for just a few of them:

Atlas Cars 0121 643 8888

Ambassador Cars 0121 449 8888

T.O.A 0121 427 8888

Royal Cars 0121 444 8888

• Check the taxi is displaying proper license plates and a roof sign


FAQs

Each year we receive lots of emails asking lots of questions, so to make life easier, we’ve collated all of the information here into the Supersonic Festival Frequently Asked Questions List. If you do have a question, check the list. If it definitely isn’t answered here, info[at]capsule.org.uk is where you can send it.

Box Office

Box office is located on Floodgate Street, this is where you can exchange your tickets for wristbands or purchase festival tickets. This is also where press and guests should come. You might want to get yourself some great street food from Digbeth Dining Club on Friday before coming to the festival.

Box office opening times are:

Friday – 8.30pm – 11.00pm stage times 9pm – 2am

Saturday – 4pm – 11pm stage times 4pm – 2am

Sunday – we’d recommend XXXXXXXXXXXX with live performances from

Accommodation: “Where can I live for the weekend?”
We have negotiated a number of special rates for Supersonic visitors, you can read all about that here https://supersonicfestival.com/info/hotels/
Alcohol: “Can I bring my own alcohol?”
Unfortunately not, you may be searched on arrival and if you are found to be carrying drinks, these will be confiscated. There will be licensed bars on the festival site. If you look under 21, please bring some photo ID along.
We have a number of lovely drinks available on site including a selection of Purity Ales

Food

We have food Vendors on site, which will cater for vegetarians and vegans alike as well as meat eaters. There is also Yumm cafe at the Custard Factory.

Cash Points
There are only a few ATM machines in Digbeth, so you might want to take out money prior to arriving at the festival site. There is one cash machine at H&S News in The Custard Factory – this machine will charge you £1.78 per withdrawal.
There are also two free cash machines located near-by at:
Nisa | Digbeth High Street | B5 5NR (about a minute walk from the site) and across the road at Birmingham Coach Station.
Children
Children can come along, but it is essential that you contact us beforehand and they usually have to leave the festival site by 9pm.
(info[at]capsule.org.uk or 0121-248-2252).
Directions: “How do I get to Supersonic Festival?”

Supersonic Festival is held at the The Crossing (at South & City College Birmingham) High Street Deritend Birmingham, West Midlands B5 5SU and Boxxed 104-108 Floodgate Street Birmingham, West Midlands B5 5SR

BY TRAIN
Festival site is a 10 minute walk from both New Street and Moor Street Stations.
1. Exit New Street Station via the main doors (signposted taxi rank)
2. As you approach Debenhams, turn left and walk through the tunnel (under the USC store)
3. When you emerge, Moor Street Station will be ahead of you.
4. Continue with Moor Street on your left, toward Selfridges Car Park.
5. At the crossing, turn right towards The Bull Ring Tavern.
6. Turn left onto Digbeth High Street
7. Walking down the high street, you’ll pass The Fancy Fabric Store, The HMV Institute and South Birmingham College.

8. Keep walking, and you’ll come to South and City College on the corner of Floodgate Street you will see the Festival entrance.

9. If you reach The Custard Factory, you’ve gone too far.

BY PLANE
Birmingham International Airport (BHX) has a number of budget flights from Europe and further a field. It is located less than 30 minutes by taxi from the Digbeth, or there is a train from Birmingham International to Birmingham New Street Station which takes about 15 minutes.
BY COACH
1. Exit the coach station and South Birmingham College is diagonally opposite on your right,
BY CAR
B9 4AA is the postcode you’ll need for your Sat Nav.
The Custard Factory is easily accessible from the M6, M5 and M42.
1. Whichever direction you’re coming from to get to Birmingham follow signs for the A41.
2. Once you’re on the A41, follow signs for the City Centre.
3. You’ll find yourself heading towards town, along Digbeth High Street.
4. Pass through a couple of sets of traffic lights before you see a Renault garage on your left.
5. Get into the right hand filter lane at the next set of lights, where there’s an old Tudor building on your right (that’s Birmingham’s oldest pub, The Old Crown, established in 1368).
6. Turn right onto Heath Mill Lane.
7. A few hundred yards along and on your right, just past Air nightclub, is the entrance to the Custard Factory car park (its gates are made up of cubes of squished cars).
Lost Property: Lost something at the festival?
Any lost property found by Supersonic staff will be safely stored in the production office; lost property found by Custard Factory or Factory Club staff will be stored in their office.
If you lose something over the weekend, contact a member of Supersonic / Security Staff. If you realise you’re missing something after the festival contact info[at]capsule.org.uk

Playing at Supersonic – can my band play at Supersonic?

Capsule HQ receive tonnes of emails from bands wishing to play the festival, we wholeheartedly wish to encourage new artists and bands and work hard to ensure that the festival features plenty of new talent, however at this point in the proceedings we’re already fully booked so please refrain from emailing us, we welcome suggestions via our recommendations blog post and refer to these when programming the festival so please use this as your first point of call.

Performance Times
Stage times for each artist can be found at https://supersonicfestival.com/timetable/
Smoking
Normal smoking rules apply: you can smoke in any outdoor area on site, you cannot smoke inside any enclosed public buildings, tents, portacabins, or near a fuel source.
Taxis
There are loads of taxi firms in Birmingham – Here’s numbers for a couple of them:
Atlas Cars 0121-643-8888
Ambassador Cars 0121-449-8888
T.O.A. 0121-444-8888
Royal Cars 0121-444-8888

Contact


Disclaimer: the above image is of Birmingham, Alabama but that doesn’t mean we’re not magic!

Digbeth

The home of Supersonic Festival is the oldest area of Birmingham. Here’s some other places might frequent during your time here.

The Old Crown – Officially the oldest public house in Digbeth, this beautiful building also houses an intimate restaurant.
188 High Street, Deritend, Birmingham, B12 0LD

The Polish Club – A gem of 60s architecture, inside is a quirky nod to another era complete with school hall type stage and Polish memorabilia adorning the walls. There is a friendly bar (a highlight being the a range of flavoured polish vodka) and cafe downstairs that  prides itself on traditional Polish cuisine.
Bordesley Street, Birmingham, B5

Spotted Dog -A good solid Irish boozer like Digbeth used to be. Good ales and the ocassional bit of traditional ceilidh music to boot.
Meriden Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5LZ

Bay Leaf – With a passion for authentic Bangladeshi food and the arts
Custard Factory, Gibb Street Digbeth B9 4AA

The Big Bulls Head – Proper traditional pub – but not in a newly sanitized way. Comforting pub grub at reasonable prices.
75 Digbeth High Street, Birmingham, B5 6DY

Warehouse Café – Based in the Friends Of The Earth building they serve a range of vegetarian and vegan food.
54-57 Allison Street, Birmingham, B5 5TH

Southside

This is a district of Birmingham city centre that sits within walking distance from New St Station and the Custard Factory, and encompasses Chinatown and the Gay Village.

“Come and enjoy some of Southside’s premium places to chow down, drink and dance the night away.

Head to The Coffee Room for a spot of relaxation, enjoy the charming French Bistro Le Truc or try the delicious cuisine at Malaysian Delight. Whatever your taste, here you’re sure to find a worthy drink or bite to eat.

Sample Southside’s taste of China with restaurants including Jacky’s Kitchen and Chung Ying Garden, before indulging in a spot of comedy at the Glee Club or live music at the O2 Academy.

Finish your night off at any one of Southside’s vibrant bars and clubs, where you can choose from a range of specialist cocktail bars right through to traditional pubs. Wherever you go you’re guaranteed for a lively night out!”

For more information about Southside BID visit www.enjoysouthside.co.uk, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BIDSouthside or or follow us on Twitter at @EnjoySouthside