Birmingham’s arts scene is about to get even more fierce for a few days.

The Fierce Festival kicks off tomorrow (October 4) and is on until October 6, offering a weekend packed with live art, performance, theatre, dance, parties, sculpture, food and music.

The event - billed as Birmingham’s international festival of live arts - is this year celebrating its 15th anniversary and will include artists from Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands.

Performances will take place at venues including Birmingham Town Hall, the MAC, Ikon, the Library of Birmingham, Digbeth’s Minerva Works and also at the Warwick Arts Centre at Warwick University, Coventry.

Fierce Festival was founded in 1998 by Mark Ball, now artistic director at the London International Festival of Theatre.

Since 2009, Laura McDermott and Harun Morrison have been joint artistic directors of Fierce.

They said: "Fierce Festival 2013 is the collision of many dialogues, ideas, slow-cooked ambitions and unexpected twists.

"We see the festival as the public manifestation of a diverse set of artistic activities  - workshops, site visits, conversation, collaboration, inspiration - that build throughout the year and culminate in this celebratory communal gathering."

The festival begins with the Blood Moon Feast, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at Edible Eastside in Digbeth. It will see food designers Blanch & Shock serving meals made from produce grown in a canalside urban garden. There will also be an appearance by a pack of six performers called Wolf In The Winter.

Knights of the Invisible consists of Scottish dance-theatre artist Iona Kewney performing against a live score of droning guitar and electronic noise provided by Joseph Quimby.

A night of live music, costumes and dancers will be on offer at Club Fierce: XXX, including a performance by New York rapper Cakes Da Killa.

Monster Body is a “graphically direct and intense dance-theatre piece” by feminist Atlanta Eke that subverts conventional images of the female form with darkly funny choreography.

Oh, and you can also expect to see a duet between Franko B and a giant animatronic polar bear...

The closing concert is at Warwick Arts Centre and features New York’s legendary Joshua Light Show, which created the visuals behind the psychedelic rock acts of the 1960s including The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin.

Re-formed by Joshua White with a new team of artists in the 2000s, the light show combines classic special effects with contemporary digital techniques.

It will be accompanied by electronic musician Nicolas Jaar who blends minimal techno beats, deep house and jazz-funk. One review said Jaar had achieved the unique feat of "bringing geeky techno fiends, jazz lovers and chav ravers into an unholy union."

For a full programme of events, times and ticket prices at the Fierce Festival, visit the official website.