OPUS 2023 Highlights
In 2023, OPUS have:​
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Delivered 25 unforgettable events for a total of 74 live event days
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Worked with over 2,120 artists along with 98 freelance contracts, resulting in 600 freelance days of employment
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Created 16 new freelance roles for women for Birmingham Festival 23 this summer
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Delivered 2 new flagship events for the city - BBC Eurovision Fanzone Birmingham and Birmingham Festival 23
Outdoor Places Unusual Places (OPUS) is a female-led, multidisciplinary arts and events producing house creating cultural programmes and artistic interventions that connect people to each other and the space they are in. 
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This year OPUS, led by five women, have delivered the following: 25 unforgettable events for a total of 74 live event days; worked with over 2,120 artists along with 98 freelance contracts, resulting in 600 freelance days of employment; created 16 new freelance roles for women for Birmingham Festival 23 this summer; delivered 2 new flagship events for the city - BBC Eurovision Fanzone Birmingham and Birmingham Festival 23. Over the past 12 months, their events have reached more than 120,000 people and they have collaborated with 79 creative organisations.
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Driven by the passion of experienced combined arts producer, Caroline Davis, the OPUS team offers event concept and design, producing, event management and access services. From thoughtful activations in non-traditional performance spaces such as parks, train stations, and even zoos, to large-scale festivals and outdoor city centre events such as Birmingham Festival 23 and the BBC Eurovision Fanzone Birmingham showing innovative programmes that bring people together through new ‘active’ and ‘participatory’ programmes. 
"What a year 2023 has been. We have loved every minute creating and delivering amazing moments for the people of the region, all through supporting the artists and organisations that live and work in the West Midlands. From a blossom tree welcoming the Lunar New Year to Santa himself at New Street Station to a Fiesta at Twycross Zoo. From showcasing the city’s artists right in the heart of the city on the Birmingham Festival 23 stage to transforming Dartmouth Park into a magical nighttime playground it's been wonderful to transform the places and spaces we are all familiar with.
We can’t wait to create and transform more places for more audiences in 2024 balancing our work within and outside the West Midlands lending Birmingham talent to Rochdale Borough Council's new Festival of Ideas and a new community opera in East Anglia".
Caroline Davis, OPUS Managing Director and Executive Producer​
The OPUS team have continued to distinguish themselves for their motivated, collaborative and dynamic approach, and their care for clients, stakeholders, partners, audiences and artists balanced with their commercial success. 2023 has seen OPUS find ways to engage with Birmingham’s diverse communities, from regularly transforming New Street Station’s busy concourse to celebrate important occasions like Lunar New Year, Diwali and Christmas, to platforming 23 Made in Brum community acts, recruited through a city-wide public callout, at Birmingham Festival 23.
The OPUS team always aim to innovate their programmes and support new work, from trialling a new Healthy Eurovision Fan Zone concept with healthier food and drink options and active participatory programming to get everyone moving together, to supporting five Twilight Takeovers at Birmingham Festival 23 – commissions by local arts organisations boldly telling stories of the city.
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Working collaboratively with other sectors, this year OPUS have partnered with Colmore BID to host 5 local independent food businesses at the BBC Eurovision Fan Zone Birmingham, and fostered the partnership between Birmingham Festival 23 and Birmingham Restaurant Festival – creating an exciting city centre experience for locals and visitors alike.
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2024 will see OPUS further expand their portfolio through the city and region looking for opportunities to bring great cultural experiences to audiences working with Network Rail for more welcoming experiences at New Street and other National Stations, National Memorial Arboretum, Rochdale Borough Council and Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. Expect further announcements in the New Year.
