A ground-breaking festival in Birmingham is taking place across a wide range of venues this year from Tattoo Studios to Libraries, from Pubs to Undertakers and from Country Parks to Art Galleries.
Organised by community interest company BrumYODO, A Matter of Life and Death on May 5-17 offers author talks, walks, art installations, poetry workshops and discussions across Birmingham and the West Midlands.
BrumYODO, a volunteer-led group based in Birmingham, aims to create safe spaces to think and talk about death and dying. To coincide with the national campaign Dying Matters Awareness Week, it has been running A Matter of Life and Death Festival since 2016 and is getting ready for another great year.
Birmingham was accredited as the UK’s first Compassionate City in 2022, recognising it as a place where citizens support each other through difficult times. A member of the Compassionate City coalition, BrumYODO’s festival provides opportunities for people from all communities to join in activities encouraging conversations around death, dying, grief and loss.
Helen Tomblin, one of the BrumYODO board members, says: “This year’s festival hosts some regular events such as a tour of an undertakers, a Birmingham death related walk, An interfaith walk, an author event and numerous Death Cafes and In Memory events.”
“Also this year, new venues and contributors have joined the festival including Lucky Rabbit Tattoo Studio, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and The Lickey Hills Country Park and we’re really pleased to be offering a discussion on memorial tattoos, writing poetry in the Lickey Hills, a discussion on AI in grief and bereavement and are also really excited to bring many of our collaborators and creative arts together to culminate the Festival in a ‘Pop Up Death’ event at Birmingham Library.”
“With Birmingham on the map as a Compassionate City we’re really pleased to see that the momentum is growing to promote healthy and productive conversation about death and dying.”
The festival kicks off with an annual festival favourite, a Death café at The Sun Rising Burial Ground on May 6. On May 7 we are excited to be talking about and sharing memorial tattoos at our new venue to the Festival, Lucky Rabbit based in the Jewellery Quarter. Back by popular demand there will be an interfaith walk in Handsworth during which we will explore the rituals and practices following death and bereavement within diverse faiths. There will be stops at different places of worship to hear personal stories about what happens after someone dies including services, support and mourning on May 8 and also our regular Death over Drinks event at Anjuna Lounge in Stirchley.
In conjunction with The Heath Bookshop, The Mary Stevens Hospice and No Barriers Here, the festival welcomes end-of-life care specialist and best-selling author of ‘With the End in Mind’ Kathryn Mannix to speak on May 9 in Stourbridge.
Saturday May 10 sees the festival develop its walking events. In the morning BrumYODO joins forces with Kevin Thomas who will lead a guided tour entitled, ‘Five Ways to Die in Birmingham’ This walk will explore fascinating hidden stories of Birmingham, including the lost Italian cemetery at the ICC, the lost Jewish cemetery at Five Ways, the death of the inventor of the lightbulb, plague pits, and more.
In the afternoon and a new collaborator to the Festival, Giovanni Esposito AKA Spoz, a former Birmingham poet laureate, and Holly Winter-Hughes, poet and therapeutic writing practitioner will be leading a wellbeing walk “up the Lickey hills” where you can remember and share stories, about a loved one who has died. Or you can just enjoy the outdoors and the experience of being with nature and at peace. You will then have the opportunity to spend time writing your own thoughts and memories and try a bit of poetry.
On Tuesday May 13 people have the chance to talk about how to make uncomfortable conversations more comfortable, led by Evolve & Flourish’s Suzanne McArthur and hosted at A Natural Undertaking’s new premises in Hall Green.
New to the Festival last year, on May 14, The Northfield NNS team at Northfield Community Partnership ‘To Absent Friends’ event at The Navigation Inn in Northfield. This is an informal evening where you can share stories about loved ones who have died over a drink & a meal. You can bring an object or a photo, share your stories together in a safe space, and then all raise together a toast to “absent friends”.
Following its recent renovations, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery are really pleased to be featuring in the Festival again. On May 15 they will be holding a tour showcasing some of their exhibits on the theme of death and dying and then later in the afternoon there will be a Death Café in the Tea Rooms.
This year for the first time, the Festival culminates in a ‘Pop Up Death’ event at Birmingham Library on Saturday May 17, exploring life and death through creativity, the event picks up the key festival themes and features some of our collaborators, community participants and arts projects across the West Midlands. It is open to all ages with activities, exhibits and opportunities to creatively explore the often taboo subject of death and dying.
Emma Waterford, BrumYODO board member and creative practitioner, says, ‘We are delighted to close the festival at the Birmingham Library, right in the heart of Birmingham City Centre. With its glass walls making the event visible to passers by in Centenary Square, our hope is that through the Festival and final pop up event we will make this often hidden subject more visible by offering a space for more open conversations about death, dying and living well until we die.
Emma urges previous A Matter of Life and Death Festival supporters and new visitors to give the events a go.
“The festival includes so many very different events we hope we have something for everyone. We have done all we can to ensure as many as possible are free or low cost. Some need to be booked, some are simply drop-in. Please check our website for all the information – and we hope to see you there.”
For full information including booking details see ‘A Matter of Life and Death Festival 2025’ on the BrumYODO events page: https://brumyodo.org.uk/events and follow the festival on social media @BrumYODO
