{"id":786826,"date":"2026-02-24T23:26:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/786826\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T23:26:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:26:24","slug":"birmingham-bookshop-with-its-very-own-music-festival-looks-to-hold-onto-crown-as-uks-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/786826\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham bookshop with its very own music festival looks to hold onto crown as \u2018UK\u2019s best\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: The Heath Bookshop<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

In less than four years, The Heath Booksho<\/strong>p has transformed Birmingham\u2019s passion for the written word. Having only opened its doors in September 2022, the King\u2019s Heath store launched its own music and literature festival in 2024<\/strong> and was crowned<\/a> the \u2018Independent Bookshop of the Year\u2019 in 2025<\/strong>. Can it do it all again in 2026?<\/p>\n

The Heath Bookshop is one of 76 finalists for The British Book Awards\u2019 \u2018Independent Bookshop of the Year\u2019<\/strong>\u2014which also includes Worcester\u2019s Script Haven, Stafford\u2019s That Little Bookshop and Broadway\u2019s Blandford Books in the Midlands. With bookshops from all over the UK, The Heath Bookshop faces fierce competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most gratifying thing about the 2026 Independent Bookshop of the Year is not just the record number of submissions, but the Grade-A quality of each and every one of them,\u201d said Tom Tivnan, deputy editor, The Bookseller. \u201cWe all know the current travails of the High Street in general, but indies across the UK and Ireland are meeting the difficulties with grit, innovation and community spirit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat impresses is how these shops are nimbly and proactively moving into areas that tap into local needs, such as launching festivals, fundraisers, wellness groups and supporting local schools. All this on top of the core mission of spreading the joy of books, which indies arguably do better and with more passion than any other sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

What sets The Heath Bookshop apart from the rest? \"AnCredit: The Heath Bookshop <\/p>\n

Last year, The Heath Bookshop was singled out for turning the store \u201cinto a thriving community hub<\/strong>\u2026 with the confidence to take big swings.\u201d The Heath has not only nailed the \u201cnitty-gritty of customer service and stock curation\u201d but successfully launched its own festival<\/a>, which not many other bookshops can say they\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n

The Heath Bookshop Literature and Music Festival<\/strong> galvanises the local neighbourhood, teaming up with other local independent businesses like children\u2019s bookshop How Brave is the Wren and music pub the Hare and Hounds, to showcase a mix of local talent and established artists<\/strong> in Kings Heath.<\/p>\n

This April, expect the biannual festival to feature everything from a radical new dance adaptation of Max Porter\u2019s award-winning novel, \u2018Grief Is The Thing With Feathers\u2019, to the festival\u2019s first-ever Open Mic Competition, and a DJ set from former The Smiths drummer, Mike Joyce, and an \u2018in conversation\u2019 chat about his memoir, \u2018The Drums\u2019.<\/p>\n

When will the \u2018Independent Bookshop of the Year\u2019 be decided? <\/p>\n

This year\u2019s nominations cover nine different regions and countries across the UK and Ireland. Regional and country winners will be announced on Tuesday, March 10<\/strong>, while an overall winner will later be revealed during The British Book Awards ceremony at Grosvenor House London on Monday, May 11<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: The Heath Bookshop Save In less than four years, The Heath Bookshop has transformed Birmingham\u2019s passion for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":["post-786826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-birmingham","tag-birmingham","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116128198833448952","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}