Fierce Festival Returns to Birmingham with VR Sauna and Cluedo-Inspired Gothic Venue

Fierce, Britain's longest-running live art festival, has returned to Birmingham for a week-long programme staged across conventional theatres and unconventional spaces, particularly in the ex-industrial Digbeth area, which is described as fast becoming a creative hub. Launched in 1998, the festival takes over the city with a lineup that includes late-night artist dinners, a show staged in a swimming pool, and Faye Driscoll's rotating disintegration piece. The programme also features a VR gay sauna and a gothic pile that inspired the board game Cluedo. The festival's return highlights the subjective, in-the-moment nature of live art, where presence and connection shape each audience member's experience. As the article notes, the phrase 'two things can be true' often applies to the farther reaches of live art, where a performance can be both confusingly self-indulgent and utterly profound. Fierce remains a key platform for live art in the UK, transforming Birmingham's venues and spaces for one week each year.