Brighton, the small city with a stunning coastline, may seem like a place for a quiet seaside getaway, but it’s bursting with music and cultural events that make it far from quiet and an unexpected place to find entertainment and immerse yourself in various art forms.
Brighton is home to many annual and one-off events and has year-round access to trendy eateries, theatres, museums, and even online gaming through Casinos.com. It’s a place where there’s always something to see and do.
While some events, like the Sussex Beer Festival—one of CAMRA’s (Campaign for Real Ale) beer-appreciation events held at Brighton Racecourse— are dearly missed since the COVID-19 pandemic, many others still draw tourists from around the UK and are renowned for their unique celebrations and festivities. The seven highlighted here are among the city’s biggest events.
1. Brighton Festival (May)
Undoubtedly, the largest event in Brighton is the Brighton Festival, which celebrates art in all its forms. Whether it is celebrations of music, theatre, dance, literature, or film, it can all be found at this three-week-long festival.
The festival began forming in 1964, though the first official festival wasn’t held until 1967. The first Brighton Festival director, Ian Hunter, shaped the festival with a clear intent and purpose to inspire both locals and visitors to explore the arts and reflect on cultural developments, blending the serious with the playful.
Nearly six decades later, it’s safe to say that the festival managed to, and continues to, achieve this. Today, to encourage the growth and excitement surrounding the festival, guest directors are invited to join the festival team to highlight new areas of art and culture to continually expand what’s featured and who the festival appeals to.
2. The Great Escape (May)
Every May, The Great Escape invites festivalgoers to escape their daily routine with four days of live music. The event takes over Brighton Beach and more than 30 other venues in the city, delivering performances from hundreds of up-and-coming artists to music lovers across the region.
Many festival attendees book through The Great Escape’s partnered accommodations, like local campgrounds and hotels, to immerse themselves in the festival from beginning to end. The festival also draws major music industry players looking for the next big thing. For new musicians, The Great Escape holds the possibility of launching their careers, and for music lovers, the festival allows them to discover new favourites.
3. Brighton Fringe (Early May to Early June)
Referring to itself as the ‘celebration of the weird, wild and wonderful’, Brighton Fringe delivers a vast range of performances to entertain its fringe festivalgoers. The 2024 festival included over 750 events and more than 3,000 performances that tugged at your heartstrings, tickled your funny bone, or left you in awe of the local and global talent showcased.
4. Artists Open Houses Festival (May, November, & December)
What started as part of the Brighton Festival became a distinct event in the Brighton region known as the Artists Open Houses (AOH). The separation from the main festival allows the artists and their work to stand out clearly as visual arts among the celebration of music, theatre, and other art forms of the Brighton Festival. The popularity and success of AOH have led to it taking place three times a year: once in May, alongside the Brighton Festival, and later in November and December.
The AOH festival is exactly what it sounds like: artists, galleries, and shops open the doors to their homes or gallery spaces, welcoming the public to see their art on display. It allows established and up-and-coming artists to find new audiences, meet patrons and fellow artists, and is generally a celebration of art across the city.
5. Brighton Pride (August)
Brighton Pride is known as the biggest pride celebration in the UK, and this reputation brings people from across the nation to celebrate and participate in this inclusive, decades-old celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. All events help the Brighton Pride CIC raise funds to help the non-profit reach its goals and objectives of supporting and empowering the community.
Major events, with all proceeds going towards the non-profit and running the festival, include Fabuloso in the Park (where music icons like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Dua Lipa have performed), the Pride Parade, and the Pride Village Party.
6. Boundary Brighton Festival (September)
Boundary Brighton Festival is a one-day event showcasing dance music across four stages in Brighton’s Stanmer Park, and September’s 2024 lineup is said to be the biggest yet, with names like Harriet Jaxxon, Dom Whiting, and Eliza Rose gracing the stages.
7. Burning the Clocks (December)
Burning the Clocks is a winter solstice celebration that aims to break up the long, dark winter nights with paper lanterns. All participants make their own lanterns and then parade them through the city to Brighton Beach, where they light them on fire to brighten up the longest night of the year.
It’s an event for all ages that includes marching bands and performances during the parade and adds light to the darkest time of the year. Whether you participate in the parade or watch the lanterns on their journey to the beach, be sure to dress warmly.
Conclusion
While small, Brighton offers a seemingly endless parade of events and entertainment, making it a popular destination for music, theatre, arts, and culture lovers from across the UK and worldwide. Whether you head to Brighton for its massive annual festivals or for the smaller, culture-focused ones, you’ll find something you’ll thoroughly enjoy—and you’ll be eager to return to its charm in the future.
