Balsall Heath Second Saturday

Monthly creative festival

Tag: October 2026

  • Woodwork with MAKE & TADA! 11am-2.15pm, Lower Gallery, OPW

    In this session with MAKE & TADA!, participants can make their own spooky wooden tealight holder to take home.

    Participants will choose from a spooky design and learn drilling, cutting, hammering and painting.

    This is a relaxed, welcoming community workshop, suitable for all abilities. All materials are provided, along with guidance throughout. Booking is essential as places are limited, and children must be accompanied by an adult.

    Workshop sessions:
    11am-12.15pm
    1-2.15pm

    Cost: £5 +booking fee (covers material costs)
    Booking is essential, please book here.
    Aimed at children aged 6+

    MAKE & TADA! is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.

  • Balsall Heath in Changing Times Exhibition. 11am-4pm, Director’s Office (Courtyard), OPW

    Balsall Heath Local History Society presents an exhibition celebrating the history of the local area: showcasing Mick Turner’s photographs, archive images and interviews with local people.

    The years 1960 to the 1990s saw a transformation in Balsall Heath. Many migrants moved in to the area, and some long established residents were compulsorily rehoused elsewhere as whole streets were demolished. Meanwhile the area was in decline with uncleared bomb sites from the Second World War, poor housing, high unemployment, appalling health statistics, poverty and a major prostitution problem.

    This was also a time of new opportunities, new organisations and new ideas. There was growing dynamism and hope as the groundwork was laid for the thriving multi-cultural community of today’s Balsall Heath.

    The Mick Turner Archive of photographic images is a vast collection of images, thousands of which were published in the Balsall Heathan through this time.  We will use these images as a starting point to understand Balsall Heath through the eyes of people who have lived there.

    Balsall Heath Local History Society is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.

    Photo: Mick Turner

  • Birmingham Resistance Library. 11am-4pm, The MIX Cafe

    As part of Balsall Heath Second Saturday explore the Birmingham Resistance Library collection, borrow and return books. Open to all.

    Radical Exhibition Collective is a film collective with the aim to support the development of access to film culture in Birmingham. Through diasporic programming and centring subaltern expression, REC seeks to increase access to independent, archival and experimental film and moving image. They recognise the potential of film watching spaces as sites of resistance, community gathering and a tool for collective liberation.

    Please note, Birmingham Resistance Library is located in The MIX Cafe at The Old Print Works. The venue has step free access.

    Browse, Borrow & Return

    Explore the Birmingham Resistance Library collection and borrow a book. No membership required. You can browse the catalogue in advance online too at www.birminghamresistancelibrary.co.uk

    REC’s Community Pop-up DVD Library

    Radical Exhibition Collective’s (@radicalexhibition) community DVD library has been created with the intent to increase access to independent film and moving image in Birmingham. With a focus on platforming subaltern expression and films that may be unavailable to freely stream, rent or find online, REC’s pop-up DVD library recognises the value film holds in the cultural sphere and seeks to address gaps in engaging with it.

    Book Return💫

    If you’ve borrowed a book from the library, please remember to return it this upcoming Browse, Borrow & Return session

    Donations✨

    Donate a book on the day, link in bio for our wish list or donate a book related to ‘resistance’ that you have read and recommend.

    About REC

    @radicalexhibition

  • Yayoi Kusama-inspired Pumpkins with Wonderfish Art Studio. 11.45am-1pm, Lower Gallery, OPW

    It is the Pumpkin Month! Join our workshop, led by Wan Yu Fish at Wonderfish Art Studio, to create Yayoi Kusama-inspired pumpkins, as we celebrate this time of year and explore how Kusama (1929 – 2026) saw the world in memory of her.

    Free, drop-in workshop. All materials will be provided.
    All are welcome.

    This session is free, please consider making a donation here.

    Wonderfish Art Studio is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.

  • SEEMAWORLD – Soft Crits Special + Studio (reimagined). 12-2pm, Lower Gallery, OPW

    A physical room, a website, a desk, a routine, a shop, a notebook. What does your practice want and need?

    Join SEEMAWORLD for a series of prompts, conversations, found imagery and materials to draw, write and collage, participants are invited to create their own journal-style zine. We’ll explore the spaces, materials, environments, routines and concepts that support our creative practices – whilst imagining (and reimagining) what a studio might look and feel like beyond a traditional physical space.

    This is designed to be a relaxed, co-making session with a range of coloured paper/card, collage materials and basic writing / drawing / crafting tools provided. No previous zine-making experience is needed.

    The workshop will take place after the final Soft Crits session, which invites artists to bring along one piece of work (at whatever stage) to present to others in the group and exchange thoughts on. 

    Free, limited availability

    Saturday 10 October

    12-1: Soft Crits

    1-2: studio, (re)imagined.

  • Arts and Crafts with Right to Remain. 1-4pm. Lower Gallery, OPW

    Join Right to Remain for a family-focused arts and crafts session in the lead up to the National Week of Solidarity to End Immigration Detention (18-25 October). 

    Every day, people are detained under immigration powers in the UK and taken away from their families and communities. People are held indefinitely, sometimes not knowing where they are being taken to, often not knowing when they will be released.Every time someone is detained, families, neighbours, friends, and support groups rally to provide care, rebuild stability, and keep fighting for justice.

    Art can become a form of solidarity, and create a space to make hard topics feel a little bit easier. This session will try to find ways to share messages of love, support and solidarity through creative writing, printing and collaging. 

    This is an open session held between 1-4pm and is suitable for children and adults. Please come along to say hello, learn more about our work and create with us!

    Right to Remain is a registered charity (charity number 1192934). Right to Remain works with communities, groups and organisations across the UK. We provide information, resources, training and assistance to help people to establish their right to remain. We challenge injustice in the immigration and asylum system.

  • Local Climate Fair with People’s Emergency Briefing. 1.30-4pm, Upper Gallery, OPW

    Join Balsall Heath People’s Emergency Briefing for a community event on climate issues – meet local groups and individuals; build our community spirit; and share information and ideas.

    Including: adapting to climate change; community support; nature conservation; activism and campaigning.

    Stallholders include:
    – Bahu Trust
    – ChangeKitchen CIC
    – Balsall Heath People’s Emergency Briefing

    Please note this event is located in the Upper Gallery, accessed via a number of stairs and unfortunately we do not currently have a lift.

  • Black British Book Festival workshop with Toyin Taiwo. 2-3.30pm, Lower Gallery, OPW

    Join Toyin Taiwo for Behind The Mask: A Storytelling and Drama Workshop.

    Designed to be pratical, welcoming and enjoyable for adults who are curious about drama, storytelling or creative expression.

    This event is organised by the Black British Book Festival. Selina Brown, Founder and CEO is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works and the founder of the Black British Book Festival and the inaugural National Reading Hero recipient of the Queen’s Reading Room Medal. Her Penguin picture book My Rice is Best has been shortlisted for the British Book Awards 2026, The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2026 and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2026.

    This is a free event. If you’d like to support The Old Print Works please consider making a donation here.

  • Children’s Story Telling at The GAP. 2-4pm, Drawing Room (Courtyard), OPW

    For this Balsall Heath Second Saturday, join The GAP for a fun interactive storytelling session to honour the season of Autumn and explore how we can live in harmony with the natural world.

    Using drama, craft and imaginative play, children will be guided by our skilled Arts Educators to develop empathy, collaboration, problem-solving, and responsibility.

    For ages 6 – 11.

    Please arrive promptly to start at 2pm! The session lasts for a full 2 hours (it is not drop in)

    The GAP is open from 11am, come and explore their relaxing space and browse their library of books.

    The GAP Arts Project is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.

    If you’d like to support The Old Print Works please consider making a donation here.