Relaxing times were enjoyed all day at first Westside Wellness Festival

A steady flow of people who were keen to relax made the first Westside Wellness Festival a busy event in Centenary Square yesterday.

Attendees enjoyed everything from free sports massages to dancing, along with meditating, confidence tips, colouring, glitter tattoos and other activities at the event which ran from 12.30pm to 4.30pm.

Lorraine Olley introduces the festival with Harriette Luscombe.

A mini-stage with a PA system was built for the festival which took place in the middle of the square in between the Library of Birmingham and Broad Street.

Members of the public able to gather around to watch and join in on a series of exercise mats and wooden picnic tables. You can watch our video of the event here:

https://youtu.be/NzuwaziI9XA

The festival and its key components were introduced by compere Lorraine Olley, and the event was run by the BID’s communications manager Luisa Huggins and business liaison manager Elaine Weir.

The BID’s top festival team: (from left) Lorraine Olley, Luisa Huggins and Elaine Weir.

Guest presenters included Harriette Luscombe from Coaches for Change, author Lee Benson who gave tips on public speaking and self-confidence building, and personal trainer turned sports injuries expert Crystal Rodrigues, who offered free massages.

Lee Benson on stage at the festival.

Soteria Self Defence illustrated how people can keep themselves safe from attack, Milan Illustrator showed how to draw with mindfulness and guitarist Will Crawford from Quietnote offered ‘guided musical meditation’.

Self-defence sessions at the festival.

There was also a ‘Creativity and AI’ workshop reflecting the AI Dialogues exhibition running until November at The Exchange, the University of Birmingham’s venue based in the former Municipal Bank building across the road from the square.

Those who were taking part included people of all ages as well as city visitors from Nottingham and as far afield as Europe, plus one man who had just relocated from Southampton.

Free sports massages were enjoyed.

Luisa said: “We were thrilled to host our first Wellness Festival in Centenary Square in conjunction with Coaches for Change.

“We were encouraging people to carve out time to focus on their wellbeing. We had a series of free activities for everyone to enjoy from mindful reading and colouring to meditation with music.

“The response from everyone was fantastic and we were busy throughout the day with free sports massages and glitter tattoos.”

Pictures and video for Westside BID by Graham Young

One thought on “Relaxing times were enjoyed all day at first Westside Wellness Festival

  1. Nice to nurture.
    So easy to let well being slip in the hustle n bustle of life.
    Glitter tattoo is the thing to do!
    More sparkle and less grey.

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