Birmingham will give a warm welcome to England's returning Commonwealth Games heroes at a special festival this weekend.

Members of the netball squad who grabbed the gold medal in a dramatic finale will be there along with athletes, swimmers and others who competed for their country down under.

And families are being invited to the homecoming ceremony in Birmingham city centre on Saturday where they will also have the chance to try out some Commonwealth Games sports for themselves.

England secured 45 gold, 45 silver and 46 bronze medals at the Games.

As well as the athletes there will be song, dance and music on a stage in Victoria Square compared by Blue Peter presenter Radzi Chinyangangya.

He took part in last Sunday's incredible Mr Blue Sky dance for the Commonwealth Games handover ceremony.

Also reprising their roles from Sunday will be Erdington rapper Lady Sanity, spoken word poet Amerah Saleh and a screening of the short film by Daniel Alexander.

Among those performing at the event is multi-talented athlete and signer Jazmin Sawyers who featured on the Voice series in 2017.

She finished seventh in the long jump in the Gold Coast last week and boasts a silver medal from the Glasgow games four years ago.

The Stoke-on-Trent singer will be joined by painist and Britain's Got Talent winner Tokio Myers for their Team England anthem Jerusalem.

Visitors are also promised an amazing Bollywood finale featuring members of Digbeth based Ace Dance and Music.

Jazmin Sawyers

The party starts at noon on Saturday, April 21 in Victoria Square and New Street.

Monique Deletant, deputy CEO of Culture Central, said: “We have assembled an outstanding line-up of singers and dancers for Homecoming, including Bollywood performers and artists championing the best of rap, grime and pop.

“We will once again be celebrating everything that is distinctive about Birmingham’s cultural scene with a focus on dance and music, youth and talent, and featuring the stars of the Handover ceremony.”

Jacqui Kennedy of Birmingham City Council said: "We're having a big party to welcome home our athletes from the Gold Coast, celebrating what they've achieved. We're putting on lots of singing, dancing, music, food all with a Commonwealth theme.

"We're having some sport participation where people can try different Commonwealth sports."

"It's to celebrate 2018 and to prepare for 2022."

Who else is appearing

Sharing the stage with Lady Sanity and Amerah Saleh will be an exciting line-up of regional performers including Afro-fusion dance group ACE Dance and Music, Humanhood, MDK Crew B-Boys, Birmingham MC P-Shand, Bollywood dancers from Shiamak Company, award-winning vocal group Sons of Pitches, and teenage singer Kellimarie, from Coventry.

Video Loading

DJ G-Z and Hi-Wave, led by music director David Austin Grey, will keep the crowds moving.

Dance in its many forms will have a prominent role as Birmingham cements its reputation as the “city of dance” and prepares for the Urban Street Festival that will be part of the 2022 Cultural Programme of the Games.

What sports can you try

There will be taster sessions of sports including: aquatics, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, judo, lawn bowls, netball, rugby 7s, squash, table tennis, triathlon, weightlifting and wrestling.

All the sports will take place at the Birmingham Games.