Brighton Festival

By Sam Evans

The highly acclaimed Brighton Festival will be held next month on the 4th – 26th May with Poet Laureate Michael Rosen as Guest Director.

Rosen, one of the best known figures in poetry and children’s writing, will follow in the footsteps of previous directors Aung San Suu Kyi and Vanessa Redgrave to headline and oversee the event.

The festival is the third largest in the UK and marks the 47th Annual arts event held in the city, featuring names from the world of politics, journalism, comedy and literature.

Judith Kerr, Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger, ,comedian Daniel Kitson and veteran singer Sinead O’Conner are just some of the high profile names visiting the area.

It will prove to be a busy time for the city, with 80,000 tickets available and shows being put on in thirty Brighton based venues.

Ticket prices vary with some events listed as free and others which are reasonably priced. Visit http://brightonfestival.org/whats_on/ for more details.

The Best European Festivals You Won’t Have Heard Of

By David Hillier

It might not feel like it, but summer is on its way. Honest.

As our limbs thaw out, the festival-minded among us turn our minds to what fields we are going to be rolling around in come the warmer months. Whether you want to see some great music, crack open a chemical suitcase or talk to strangers at dawn, there are loads of events across Europe that mean you don’t just have to go to Benicassim or Rock Werchter. Here’s some of the best.

Brighton Festival Review: dreamthinkspeak, The Rest Is Silence

credit: Jillian Edelstein

We’re in a perspex walled box. Black floor, a faint glow from a large ceiling screen creating reflections of reflections. Boundless space. Projections of bare trees surround us, even above our heads.  A man walks toward us between the trees, goes away.  Another man looms in the extreme foreground. One wall is a close-up of his ear, leaking bloody poison. The image echoes around us.

A man wakes with a start.  His ultra-modern bedroom is a brightly lit box beyond our perspex wall. He steps through the door to his bathroom, an adjoining box, rehearsing the speech Claudius makes to Hamlet, urging him to get over his father’s recent death and join his new parents in a united front.  Overhead, we see him through the plughole as he tries out phrases and inflections above his basin.

Rooms appear on all sides.  A fashionable young woman nervously straightens her jacket; her brother does a few press-ups before slipping into an expensive business suit; an attractive older woman brushes on foundation. Multiple video images from advertising and politics are projected onto other walls.   A large room, one whole side of our own, is set up with a minimalist sofa for what looks like breakfast TV.

Behind us, a young man sits on the edge of his bed in the gloom, reflections creating the impression he’s underwater. He wrings his hands, and stares.

Brighton Pride saved from closure

By Kat Hopps

Brighton Pride 2009. Credit: AnemoneProjectors

The future of Brighton Pride has been saved after debts of £180,000 owed to over 20 charities had previously threatened to close the festival.

Pride Brighton & Hove, a newly formed community organisation, was given approval to run the event by Brighton City Council on March 6^th. They take over from cash-strapped Pride Southeast Ltd who had bid to run a paid-for event in Preston Park only.

The festival will now be managed by Michael Deol and Robert Webb, the owners of Revenge nightclub in Old Steine, James Ledward, editor of GScene magazine, and Paul Kemp, of Wild Fruit.

The date for this year’s Pride has been set as 1^st September and will consist of the usual parade through the city and the ticketed event in Preston Park. The popular festival now in its 20^th year attracted over 100,000 people last year.

The Great Escape Festival – Preview

                  

By Ian Walker

Picture the euphoria surrounding the classic British music festival, minus the obligatory sight of scores of people bathing in endless fields of mud. Since 2006, Brighton has been home to a very unique and exclusive exhibit. A cornucopia of emerging and successful British and international acts unveiled in 30 different venues across Brighton and Hove. From stunning beach sets, to intricate coffee shop acoustic sessions, right back to empowering performances in the city’s top venues, The Great Escape has appropriately been slapped with the tag of “Europe’s leading Festival for new music”.

The festival takes a distinctive and incredibly ‘Brighton’ approach to the festival layout, with acts taking to all corners of the city to showcase an assortment of talent. Award winning artists on the musical spectrum have made their name over the years in our little corner of England such as: The Drums; Bon Iver; Kasabian; and Mumford & Sons. Oh, how could one forget the multi-award winning Adele playing a prolific set in a minute Kemp town coffee shop back in 2007?

With 2012’s full infectious line-up to be announced imminently, it’s sure to be quite the phenomenon. Over the weekend, you can expect to see a plethora of independent musical ability; including Africa Express Sound System, who are often described as a “beautiful cacophony” with their extraordinary mix of contemporary dance, soulful reggae vocals and staccato bass lines all conveyed by absurd aesthetics.

You can also expect to see the recently announced indie-heroes Maximo Park, who return to showcase their quirky take on alternative ‘Brit-pop’ to the Brighton crowds at The Dome.

Finally, former Festival conquerors The Mystery Jets are also Brighton bound to parade their wall of synth, superseded by that unique quivering voice of lead singer, Blaine Harrison.

This year sees scores of talent descending into Brighton to make up the 300 strong bill; Alabama Shakes, Spector, Grimes, Porcelain Raft, Howler and Dry the River all complementing a host of impromptu performances and eagerly anticipated returns.

Tickets can be purchased at an early bird price of just £45; whether you’re celebrating the abundance of talent on display, or attending the infamous educational seminars on contemporary music, which appear all over town over the duration of the weekend. The Great Escape really is a great way to access this year’s hottest new acts, get a taste of the fantastic venues we are lucky enough to have on our doorstep, or simply revel in the joys of audio while you enjoy a well earned drink at the various ‘pop up’ bars all over town!

The Great Escape – 10th May – 12st May 2012

www.escapegreat.com

Brighton Lite Interviews We Were Evergreen before their Headline Show in London Tonight

By Kayleigh Rose Lewis

Fabienne, Michael and William have been putting the fun back into music.

Photo courtesy of Lucy Roiter, Manager

Volkswagen enthusiasts descend on Madeira Drive for the Brighton Breeze rally

By Peter Brown

On the hottest October day in history, what were you doing? Most sensible people in Brighton, myself included, headed straight to the beach to enjoy the unseasonally good weather.

If you were a dedicated Volkswagen camper van owner, however, there was only one place to be on Saturday October 1st this year: parked up on Madeira Drive with hundreds of your fellow enthusiasts as part of the annual Brighton Breeze rally.

Out of the Ordinary Festival

By Lily Davis

Classing myself as a bit of a ‘fake hippy’, it is somewhat surprising that I haven’t made it to the Out of the Ordinary Festival before – especially as it is literally a five minute drive from my house. Fortunately, 2011 was my year. Though after pulling into Knockhatch’s incredibly long drive, it appeared that every other person with a faintly bohemian calling had also decided to venture to the three-day festival, held between Eastbourne and Brighton for the last five years.