LIVE: The BIG West Midlands weekend with Black Sabbath, Jeff Lynne, Colmore Food Festival and Godiva Festival
Here's our updates from the mega West Midlands summer weekend with Black Sabbath's final gig at Villa Park and Jeff Lynne performing in Birmingham on his final tour and more
More than 300,000 visitors are expected to visit the West Midlands this weekend as two of Birmingham's biggest music stars play final concerts.
It's the last ever Black Sabbath show at Villa Park and a host of heavy metal stars from around the world are in town to mark the phenomenal occasion.
Also ELO star Jeff Lynne, who grew up in Shard End in Birmingham, is playing two of the final dates of his last ever tour (tonight and tomorrow at Utilita Arena) - with the finale at Hyde Park next weekend (July 13).
In addition Birmingham is also celebrating some of its greatest food heroes across the two days of the weekend at Colmore Food Festival 2025.
And a legion of cricket fans are coming to the region for the test match between England and India at Edgbaston from July 2 to 6. There's also the Godiva Festival taking place in Coventry from July 4 to 6.
The huge events are expected to boost the West Midlands economy by £20 million, according to the West Midlands Growth Company.
Hotel occupancy in Birmingham city centre is anticipated to surge close to 90 per cent (89 per cent), significantly higher when compared with the first Saturday in July 2024 (52 per cent), as visitors travel from the UK and abroad to enjoy the West Midlands’ events calendar. Figures from STR also suggest that Birmingham’s hoteliers will enjoy increased occupancy levels for the first three weeks in July, in contrast to 12 months earlier.
Here's our updates on the big weekend:
