The Birmingham (Shirley) Guitar Show 2023 seems to be mostly back to full strength - now with a new easy-to-park venue

I’ve been so busy this year that I kind of lost track of time - and the fact that the UK’s major GUITAR SHOW was happening in just a few weeks. As usual I try to extract and showcase all the Pedal Brands that will be present - which I take from the Exhibitor list - and the roster seems to be pretty strong this year. I was actually booked to go to Iceland to attend my father’s birthday dinner - fear now it’s not one of the major milestones - and so that trip has been rescheduled.

One notable exhibitor omission is the still lack of Roland / Boss - I was supposed to have my annual Boss debriefing last Friday, but it’s been postponed to the 16th - so I don’t currently have the reason why Boss has not made it back to the show since Covid.

This year we’re NOT at the usual New Bingley Hall venue at Hockey - as it unfortunately perished in an accidental fire last year. So this year, and possibly for the foreseeable future the show has decamped to a new venue - further out from Birmingham’s City Centre - or namely the suburb of Shirley, which sits just South-West of Solihull.

This posed something of a conundrum for me as to how best get to said venue from London via public transport. There are for instance no direct trains to the nearest train statins - Shirley and Solihull - which are a sort of equidistant 2 miles away. In fact if you want to make the journey mostly by train - it involves going into Birmingham and back out again via two different station changes. So I pondered long and hard on what best to do.

I’ve reasoned in the end that it’s best to get off at Birmingham International Station and catch a taxi from there for the 8 remaining miles - rather than heading in and out of the City and changing station several times. It’s for sure the pricier option - but the shortest and quickest one really - and the most convenient. I can them book the same taxi to pick me up at the end of the day.

For cars / drivers the venue is actually much preferable - as you don’t need to drive in and through Brimingham and there is ample parking space on the premises for exhibitors and attendees alike. So if you come by car - particularly from the south - it’s probably a lot more convenient. Hockey is quiet and alienating venues surrounded by industrial estates and little by way of amenities and nearby restaurants. Will be interesting to see what Cranmore Park and its environs provide!