BEARmusic and Rob Fellows at Yorks Cafe
The decidedly cuddly and not grizzly local duo BEARmusic, combining the soulful vocals of Faye Smith and the artful craft of Gordon Begard’s guitar, will be bringing tempered sonic joy to the consistently brilliant Yorks Cafe Monday night music showcase. Also appearing is Lakhota front man Rob Fellows performing acoustic versions of their songs and original solo material. Great music, coffee, cake and company. Oh and craft beer too.
Mon 8 May 7pm at Yorks Cafe, 29 / 30 Stephenson St, Birmingham B2 4BH www.facebook.com

Monday Showcase at Birmingham Conservatoire
A beautifully cultured way to begin your week, bask in the auditory perfection of the Birmingham Conservatoire listening to its students perform renown classical pieces of music. Highlights include György Hodozsó’s piano recitals of Lizst’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.11 and Brahms Hungarian Dance No.1.
Mon 8 May 1.05pm Birmingham Conservatoire,  Paradise Place, Birmingham B3 3HG www.bcu.ac.uk

Custard Factory Big Bike Day
Cycling is the best way to navigate our glorious city and it’s noticeable that more and more of you are jumping on two wheels to get about. If you don’t know your bottom brackets from your jockey wheels maintenance can be an expensive business. Not anymore, bring your bicycle best buddy to the Custard Factory’s Big Bike Day for free servicing, support and advice. Choppers, Chippers, Grifters through to the most expensive mountain bikes are all welcome.
Tue 9 May 8am at Custard Factory, Gibb St, Birmingham B9 4AA www.facebook.com

Death Cafe at the mac
Our own mortality is a subject that fascinates and appalls in equal measure, its fundamental inevitably taps into deep rooted feelings of identity and meaning. The more we can explore these feelings the less we will have to fear. Over 4,000 Death Cafe’s have taken place in 47 countries and now we can ‘enjoy’ them at the mac as part of the ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ festival, read our full preview here. Eat cake, drink tea and have a grown up discussion about a fate that awaits us all.
Tue 9 May 4pm & Fri 12 May 11am at the mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH macbirmingham.co.uk

Edgar Macias Quartet at the Blue Piano
Birmingham jazz aficionados rejoice, the Venezuelan maestro Edgar Macias is taking over the Blue Piano’s ‘Kinda Blue’ Wednesday night sessions for the whole of May. The wonderfully convivial atmosphere of the Blue Piano married to Edgar’s sweet keyboard tinkering is a match made in cool cat heaven. Nice.
Wed 10 May 10pm at the Blue Piano, 26 Harborne Rd, Birmingham B15 3AA www.thebluepiano.co.uk

Inland#2 at Centrala
The portable exhibition impresarios Inland have curated an impressive array of work from local artists, themed around ideas of gender, for their second incarnation at the Centrala. Inland was created in 2016 as a response to the lack of affordable art space available and they have devised several imaginative ways to facilitate viewing. Can’t make it? Download in printed form and have your own exhibition.  Curators Sylwia Narbutt and Flora Bradwell will be on hand to discuss the project and meet local artists.
Fri 12 May 5pm at Centrala, Minerva Works, 158 Fazeley Street, Birmingham B5 5RS www.facebook.com

Bendable Day One at the Dark Horse *cancelled*
Bendable are looking to create all kinds of mayhem and push the Dark Horse’s huge sound system to the limit with their first landing in Moseley. Expect raging house and techno to get the walls shaking with an incredible line up of DJ’s including Bendable’s own Samo Lung and Caam. The event is free but tickets need to be booked, there’s a limit of 250 so don’t hang about.
Fri 12 May 9pm at the Dark Horse, 145 Alcester Rd, Birmingham B13 8JP www.darkhorsemoseley.co.uk

We Want Less at Suki 10
Has it really been a fortnight since the last appearance of Birmingham’s most underwhelming club night? Expect more of the same tonight with DJ’s that will please themselves and some cracking live music from the likes of HANKKS, Shaun Gambowl Walsh & The Plagiarists, ThieveZ & The Retinal Circus. We’re especially looking forward to the facial hair expertise and powerhouse guitar noise of HANKKS. If you ask them really nicely they might come and play in your kitchen. You know the drill? If you can be bothered get down to Suki’s.
Fri 12 May 9pm at Suki 10, 21 Bordesley St, Birmingham B5 5LY www.facebook.com

Custard Factory Street Food Saturday + Vintage Kilo Sale
A Saturday full of street food & vintage fashion treasures all for free, but get your (limited) free tickets, fast. See our full preview here.

Kings Heath Street Food Market
Let’s hope the sun shines on Kings Heath this weekend with Saturday’s street food market and Sunday’s street closure event, and if it doesn’t we’ll just man up and bring a brolly. The street food market is a wonderful monthly event occupying the village square that serves up a host of delightful street food stalls; live music, entertainment and of course the Stirchley based micro Birmingham Brewing Company, you can even grab yourself a cocktail from Savva Bars. See you there.
Sat 13 May 11am at Village Square, 2 Vicarage Rd, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7RA www.facebook.com

Dead Pixels and Digbeth Dining Club at Mama Roux’s
We can’t think of anything better than kicking back with some serious retro gaming whilst filling our faces with the finest street food Birmingham has to offer and listening to cool music. Expect plenty of ancient console action and the best bit is, not only can you leave your loose change at home you won’t have to keep removing the cartridges and blowing on them to get them to work. There’s a Thundercats theme so if you’ve been waiting for an excuse to dress up as Cheetara now’s your big chance.
Sat 13 May 5.30pm at Mama Roux’s, 23 Lower Trinity St, Birmingham B9 4AG www.facebook.com

Drink and Draw at the Edwardian Tea Rooms
Doodlbugs rejoice, Drink & Draw is back to scribble and scrawl its declarations of funky creativity and social high jinks all over your heart. This very special night for self-confessed doodle-addicts, casual cartoonists and quick/slow-draw aficionados, aims to offer a perfect social space to let both your creativity and the good-times flow. Perhaps dabble with a little alcoholic inspiration while you free-flow express yourself all over the page. Bring your posh pens and creative spirit, paper is provided.
Sat 13 May 6.30pm at Edwardian Tea Rooms, BMAG, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham B3 3DH www.birminghammuseums.org.uk

Death Disco at the mac
Dance like there’s no tomorrow because there just might not be. Join fellow revellers from the ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ festival for a mass wake and enjoy some very personal music chosen by attendee’s themselves. We’ve already chosen our end of the world tunes, email your requests to @BrumYODO. Embrace your mortality with honesty and openness, because it’s utterly inevitable, and strut your funky stuff into the impending oblivion that awaits us all.  Part of the ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ season, read our full preview here.
Sat 13 May 8.30pm at the mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH macbirmingham.co.uk

Kings Heath Dining Club Street Closure
Part two of the Kings Heath open air gastro weekend. We love these events, a raft of the finest gourmet street food, market stalls full of funky stuff and all played out to the deliciously laid back tunes of the Leftfoot DJ’s. A mini street festival if you will, centred around the Hare and Hounds imbued with a gloriously relaxed vibe. When the sun shines there really is no better way to spend an afternoon. The only negative for us is there’s just too much choice, but Pietanic I think we’re heading for you.
Sun 14 May 11am at Hare and Hounds,  High St, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7JZ skiddletickets.com