Culture and Leisure
Wolverhampton is well known for its sporting heritage. It is home to the world famous Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, with a state of the art 21st century stadium. There is also Dunstall Park, Europe’s first all-weather, floodlit racecourse, a greyhound stadium and speedway track. The City has a number of recreation and leisure centres for those more interested in participatory sports.
Wolverhampton is one of the Midlands leading nightlife centres. The City has a vibrant and diverse entertainment scene with award-winning live music venues and an abundance of restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs. The annual V Festival at Weston Park is right on Wolverhampton's doorstep with major acts headlining the event.
The Civic Hall hosts a range of events – Indie pop, comedy and heavy metal to classical concerts from the likes of the BBC Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras.
For those seeking theatre, the City has the Grand Theatre which has recently benefited from an £8m refurbishment and is one of the region’s top receiving theatres and the nearby Arena Theatre which is one of the West Midlands most successful small-scale touring venues.
Wolverhampton Art Gallery is renowned for its innovative programme of temporary exhibitions. It controls the finest contemporary art collection in the region, with an outstanding collection of American and British Pop art, together with more traditional paintings from such English masters as Gainsborough and Turner. We have recently opened a £6m new extension to provide further exhibition space.
The City has a surprising range of interesting places to visit, including two National Trust properties: Wightwick Manor, a late nineteenth century house with many art works by William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, and Moseley Old Hall, a seventeenth century house which offered refuge to Charles II, during the Civil War. Bantock House is a Grade II farmhouse, a mile from the City centre and shows some of the history of our area – from market town to metropolis, while Molineux Hotel is the newly opened base for Archives and Local Studies.
There’s a pleasing variety of parks and green spaces including the fine Victorian West Park; Northycote Farm, a restored farmhouse set within woodland and pasture; and Smestow Valley, 150 acres of woodland and pasture along the old railway line, declared a local nature reserve in 1998. Beautiful countryside is close at hand: Staffordshire and Shropshire are nearby with picturesque market towns and idyllic landscapes.
Over 700 different organisations make up a strong, vibrant voluntary and community sector, playing a major role in service provision. The Council supports the sector to the tune of £3.5m.
