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The weekend the world descended on Birmingham

Chloe Hughes
BBC News, West Midlands
Ross Halfin Ozzy Osbourne has long black hair and heavy black eyeliner. He is sitting on a black throne with bat wings on the top, on a stage. He has his arms out and he is singing into a microphoneRoss Halfin
Villa Park was filled with roaring crowds and rock royalty before Ozzy took to the stage on his throne

In case you missed it, Birmingham was in full glare of the spotlight at the weekend, with thousands of people from all over the world flocking to celebrate music, food and sport.

Perhaps not since the Commonwealth Games in 2022 - when one Ozzy Osbourne brought proceedings to an end - has the buzz been so palpable in the streets.

The city was largely thronged by those dressed all in black, in direct contrast to the England and India cricketers dressed in their whites at Edgbaston.

From Ecuador to the US, Bolivia to Canada they came, and it was clear they were in the city for one thing - to say farewell to Ozzy and Black Sabbath, as they took to the stage at Villa Park, bringing down the curtain on 55 years of hellraising.

But, the city was not just saying goodbye to one rock luminary - over at the Utilita Arena in the city centre, another music legend was also bidding farewell.

However, Jeff Lynne was forced to appear without his trademark guitar, having broken his left hand, telling the crowd he had been involved in a taxi crash in London.

"I've had a guitar in my hand all my life but not tonight. But nothing would keep me away from you," he told the sell out audience.

A man on a large concert screen singing into a microphone. There are others on stage with him including a guitar player and drummer.
Jeff Lynne is originally from the Shard End area of Birmingham

Lynne has been in business for about as long as Sabbath, but these shows have been billed as a "final goodbye" from his band, ELO.

Mind you, he couldn't muster the kind of support acts Ozzy enjoyed before he took to his thrown in the centre of the stage, in front of 40,000 dedicated fans, many having parted with huge amounts of money to be there.

The line-up included the likes of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Slash of Guns N' Roses, and even a cameo appearance (albeit on video) by Dolly Parton.

Ozzy's signature long black hair, thick black eye makeup and wild-eyed facial expressions were all in place - still ably living up to his Prince of Darkness nickname.

The black leather throne he sat on throughout was complete with skulls and a bat with jewels for eyes.

On a big concert screen, Ozzy Osbourne has long black hair and heavy black eyeliner. He is sitting on a black throne with bat wings on the top, on a stage. The stage is bathed in purple lights and has a background that says "Back to the beginning"
Ozzy took to the stage on his throne as the sounds of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana blasted from the PA

And although he has Parkinson's, Ozzy kept up the energy - clapping and waving his arms.

"You have no idea how I feel," he said after singing Suicide Solution, from his 1980 debut album Blizzard of Ozz. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

At the end of his five-song set, confetti blasted into the air, and the crowd burst into chants of: "Ozzy, Ozzy".

As he left the stage, a picture of Diogo Jota appeared on the big screen, a tribute to the Portuguese-born Liverpool footballer, who died in a car crash, along with his brother, last Tuesday.

Black Sabbath are playing on a large stage that has a backdrop that reads "back to the beginning". They have a black drum set that says Black Sabbath in purple writing. Ozzy is on a throne and the other members are on drums and guitars
Sabbath's set kicked off with War Pigs

It was then time for the main event - the original line-up of Black Sabbath were playing together for the first time in 20 years.

And their set began ominously with red lights and air raid sirens bellowing out around Villa Park.

Thousands of people are in front of a stage with their arms in the air in the rock symbol. on stage is black sabbath and there is confetti and smoke in the air
The event finished with a spectacular finale of Paranoid

They then launched into War Pigs, followed by N.I.B, Iron Man and finally, Paranoid.

The bandmates were having the time of their lives - during Paranoid Ozzy told the crowd to "go crazy", screaming "louder", and the crowd gladly obliged.

As the last chords rang out, a fireworks and a huge confetti cannon exploded into the night sky.

"It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle... thank you from the bottom of our hearts," said Ozzy.

A man on stage with a hat on, holding a guitar. There is a film crew filming him to his left
West Midlands-born Slash from Guns N' Roses had a set at the concert

Support acts also included Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Halestorm, Anthrax and Alice in Chains.

Slash - real name Saul Hudson - took to the stage as well.

He was raised in Stoke-on-Trent, but made his name years later as guitarist for Guns N' Roses.

Ross Halfin A man with short white hair in a black top and black jeans with metal chains down the leg, is looking over his right shoulder and playing a guitar on stage. There is another band member behind him playing the guitar and there is a crowd of thousands in a stadium beyond themRoss Halfin
Metallica wowed the crowd

The crowd erupted for Metallica.

"Birming-ham!", shouted James Hetfield.

"Without Sabbath there would be no Metallica. Thank you for giving us a purpose in life," he said.

A man with dark brown curly hair and a black jacket and black t-shirt with purple writing that reads "back to the beginning". he is doing the rock or devil horns hand gesture
Stefano di Fiore, from Rome, slept outside the stadium for days to be first in line

Of course - the event would not have been what it was, without those fans.

Stefano di Fiore, 27, from near Rome, Italy was the first person in the queue.

He arrived on Tuesday and had been outside the stadium since Wednesday afternoon.

"It's been rainy and cold, but I did it for Ozzy," he said.

"This will be the best concert of my entire life."

PA Media An England cricket player with a bat in his hand in full whites, standing in front of the wicket. The ball has hit the wicket and the top has flown off. There are two other players in whites in the backgroundPA Media
Saturday was not ideal for England

In sport, Edgbaston hosted the Men's International Test Match Series.

It began after day three with India leading by 244 runs with nine wickets in hand.

However, the day's action left England facing defeat - they lost three top-order wickets before the close, as India surged towards victory in the second Test after their captain Shubman Gill's run-fest continued.

A woman with long brown hair and sunglasses on her head. She is wearing a green t-shirt and standing in front of market stalls
The Colmore Food Festival was in its 12th year and was described as being "bigger and better than ever"

And, if all that was not enough, taste buds were tingling and mouths were watering at Colmore Food Festival, which was held in Victoria Square, providing sustenance to all those in the city centre.

It was the 12th year of the event, organised by Colmore BID.

Heather Woodhouse, from the BID, said it was an annual celebration of all the city's best food and drink.

Among her favourite foodie finds were crispy bao buns, hot curries and ice cream of every flavour.

Food and drink blogger Bite Your Brum, aka Laura McEwan, told Radio WM that this year's festival had been "bigger and better than ever" - to ensure all those black-clad Sabbath fans would not be going hungry.

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