The Commonwealth Games is coming to town

Just over 12 months ago, Birmingham got the very exciting news that it was going to be host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. After an intensive, and far shorter than usual, bid process, following the removal of Durban as the 2022 host city at the start of 2017, the city and everyone who lives and works here, got the news they’d all been hoping for.

Just over 12 months ago, Birmingham got the very exciting news that it was going to be host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. After an intensive, and far shorter than usual, bid process, following the removal of Durban as the 2022 host city at the start of 2017, the city and everyone who lives and works here, got the news they’d all been hoping for.

Although the city has not hosted the Commonwealth Games before, it didn’t come as a surprise to us that Birmingham was able to win over the organisers. Birmingham has a long and distinguished history when it comes to sport, with some absolutely outstanding credentials. Not only was Birmingham the birthplace of lawn tennis and the football league, it is also home to UK Athletics and Edgbaston Stadium, which hosts World Cup, Ashes and Champions Trophy cricket, and the city has hosted more World and European Championships than any other UK city.

Pretty impressive credentials if we do say so ourselves! But that was just the start of the case that made Birmingham the obvious choice as host city. Birmingham is an open and friendly city, welcoming over 42million leisure visitors every year. And it is a city built for events. Whether it’s large concerts or dance festivals, sporting events or international conferences, Birmingham is made for bringing people together, with an infrastructure that makes this easy and a spirit and passion from its people that makes it happen, and makes it happen really well!  The city has once again been voted as the most popular conference and events city in the UK outside of London (BMEIS 2019) and it’s easy to see why. The multi-cultural, modern, vibrant city centre is full of venues, from the standard and easy to the unique and truly brilliant. And then there’s hotels, with accommodation to support large-scale events, who are more than used to being full on any night of the week. So with the basics for events covered, then the city can move on to providing a truly exciting and different lifestyle experience. From museums and attractions to incredible dining and world-renowned cultural experiences, Birmingham offers something for everyone.

So now, at the start of 2019, the countdown to the Games is well and truly on. You might wonder what a sporting event has to do with us here at the ICC? But that’s the thing with Birmingham, when the city hosts an event on this scale, the entire city does get involved, wanting to play their part in supporting the event, the visitors and the legacy of what it can leave behind here. During the Games themselves, the ICC will be surrounded by sports – with competitions taking place at Arena Birmingham, just a few minutes’ walk away from us, as well as in the city centre, on the University of Birmingham campus, nearby Villa Park and over at our sister venue, the NEC. And although our venue isn’t hosting any of the sports programme itself, we will be supporting by bringing the skills that we know to the table – hosting events. We are looking to work with a number of sporting organisations as well as medical and science-based associations to find out how we can support additional events that will be taking place, offering a warm welcome to anyone looking to host an event alongside the Games. This is a huge opportunity for the city and for us as a venue. We want to play our part in providing that incredible experience for everyone who comes to Birmingham as a part of the Commonwealth Games.