Birmingham Town Hall will be awarded a blue plaque by Birmingham Civic Society to mark a remarkable moment in literary history: the first ever public reading of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens himself, which took place at the venue in December 1853.

The plaque will be unveiled on Monday 15 December by acclaimed Birmingham actor Anton Lesser, known for Wolf Hall, Endeavour, and Game of Thrones.

The unveiling coincides with a very special evening at Town Hall: A Christmas Carol with Anton Lesser & Orchestra of the Swan. Lesser, who has read all of Dickens’ works for Audible, will bring the story to life in the very space where Dickens performed it for the first time.

Accompanied by the Orchestra of the Swan, the performance combines iconic words and music, capturing the suspense and emotion of Dickens’ timeless tale.

The plaque is part of the wider Amplify Town Hall project, an ambitious refurbishment and archive initiative led by B:Music over recent months with support of £123,651 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project aims to capture and celebrate the extraordinary history of Birmingham’s oldest events venue.

To find out more, visit bmusic.co.uk