This free show, called Wondrous Stories and created by Leamington Spa-based dance circus company Motionhouse, will mark the start of a six-month long cultural programme taking place across Birmingham and the West Midlands.

It will be the biggest celebration of creativity ever seen in the region and one of the largest-ever cultural programmes to surround the Commonwealth Games.

There will be over 200 events, including a spectacular open-air show, a brand-new Birmingham-inspired album, an immersive 3D experience on public transport, photography exhibitions across billboards, a city centre forest of magical proportions, a tap-dancing record attempt, and much, much more.

With events running from March to September, the festival will put Birmingham and the West Midlands' creativity, ambition, heritage and diversity on a global stage, it is claimed.

"The great gift of the mega-event is that it comes, and it gives an opportunity for everybody to work towards the same goal," said Martin Green, the Festival’s chief creative officer and former head of Ceremonies at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

"Sport is codified by its very nature; it is the same everywhere in the world.

"So, it’s the cultural activity, the Festival, the Opening and Closing ceremonies, that give you the sense of place, and we have a great opportunity to celebrate this extraordinary creative place we’ve got here in Birmingham.

"I really love the fact that for many years now, great sporting events also have great cultural events alongside them.

"It’s a great way to reach even more people than you would just through sport, and to see sport audiences cross over to culture."

A brand-new album, On Record, featuring eleven original songs from local artists, including UB40, created and produced by Jez Collins of Birmingham Music Archive and Grammy-nominated producer Simon Duggal is among the plans.

The multi-genre work is due to to be available via a limited vinyl release and across all streaming platforms from June 18.

Passengers on board a West Midlands Metro tram between Wolverhampton and Birmingham will be taken back in time while experiencing the world’s first immersive digital art powered by 5G on board a tram.

Time Travel Tram, created by immersive storytellers Surfing Light Beams and Crossover Labs, launches living history into the 21st century by transforming the view from the tram windows into a 3D visual extravaganza of people and places from the region’s past.

Due to run throughout the duration of the festival, until September 30, Time Travel Tram will be accompanied by a contemporary soundtrack created by some of the West Midlands’ leading musicians and performers.

Artist Jaskirt Boora explores the role of gender and ethnicity in sport through a series of photographic portraits and recorded conversations. 

People, Place and Sport - a collaboration with West Bromwich-based community arts organisation Multistory - is a celebration of local communities and grassroots sport in the West Midlands and will take place from April to August in leisure centres across the region, as well as outdoors at Sandwell Valley Country Park.

Over 100 creative community projects are also due take place across Birmingham, which Green hopes will help the region recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Our strapline for the whole festival is 'Let’s Go Out', we don’t want to be unclear about this," Green said.

"It’s a great opportunity for people to get back to culture and back into venues, although a lot of our work is going to be outside where we know people are a bit more comfortable.

"We very much want to be part of the recovery for the region, and the whole UK, because we’re a great big festival right in the heart of the UK that we know people will travel to."

For a full list of events click here.