SHARING THE JOY

Absolutely

Connection and collaboration was at the forefront of this year’s Brighton Festival as guest director, DJ, broadcaster and musician Nabihah Iqbal invited artists and audiences to ‘Gather Round’ and share experiences, exchange ideas and celebrate the arts across Brighton & Hove and East Sussex. For its 56th edition, England’s largest curated multi-arts festival brought 120 events from international, national and local artists to venues and outdoor locations in an ambitious programme that included seven world premieres, five UK premieres and eight Brighton Festival commissions. In Shoreham-by-Sea, the immersive world premiere of John Lyly’s play Galatea, from theatre maker Emma Frankland, historian Andy Kesson, Brighton’s Marlborough Productions and outdoor theatre specialists Wildworks, included a community chorus of local residents alongside a large cast of deaf and hearing actors. Across the city at East Brighton’s The Crew Club, youth theatre company ThirdSpace worked with Brighton People’s Theatre and Ceyda Tanc Dance on a modern re-imagining of the Greek tragedy Bakkhai, featuring a cast of more than 50 actors, aged between eight and 60-years-old and set against the dramatic backdrop of the South Downs. Brighton Festival’s community collaborations continued with Our Place, supported by higher education partner University of Sussex. The programme connected artists in residence with the communities of Hangleton & Knoll, East Brighton and Moulsecoomb & Bevendean for creative projects including a new mural for Hangleton Community Centre, plus art exhibitions, workshops and family fun days. Elsewhere, London Symphony Orchestra shared their expertise with Brighton & East Sussex Youth Orchestra in a series of mentoring sessions ahead of the young musicians’ performance, supported by major sponsor Mayo Wynne Baxter.

Further creative partnerships saw Nabihah Iqbal perform live with awardwinning arts collective Invisible Flock in the Sumatran rainforest soundscape

The Sleeping Tree, which was part of this year’s music programme, supported by major sponsor Moda. The Books & Debates programme had Nabihah also discussing life and music with BBC broadcaster Anita Rani and poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, and exploring David Olusoga’s love of history in a sold-out event at Brighton Dome.

Critically acclaimed events included Van Gogh Alive, which brings the Dutch painter’s artworks spectacularly to life, with 3,000 images presented in stunning detail against an evocative classical music score. This innovative immersive exhibition marks the reopening of Brighton Dome’s newly refurbished Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre, ahead of the spaces returning to live performances in the autumn.

This year’s programme included 123 free performances, continuing Brighton Festival’s aim to make the arts accessible to everyone. Groundswell, a large-scale interactive installation encouraging audiences to work together to create oceanic waves of sound and light, welcomed more than 20,000 participants across the festival. Groundswell was presented in partnership with Brighton Fringe and made possible by The Pebble Trust, whose annual support of Brighton Festival’s major productions and installations o ers audiences innovative and unique ways of seeing and experiencing the city.

The annual Children’s Parade, supported by Brighton Girls, saw more than 5,000 school children take to the streets of Brighton in imaginative costumes and displays to celebrate this year’s Parade theme, ‘One world: learning and growing from each other’. Elsewhere the everpopular A Weekend Without Walls series brought a colourful and vibrant programme of free, pop-up outdoor performances to hundreds of people in Brighton and Crawley across the closing weekend.

Andrew Comben, chief executive of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, says: “This year Nabihah Iqbal invited audiences, artists, residents and visitors to ‘Gather Round’ and share the joy of collective experiences, and they certainly have!

We’ve welcomed artists from across the world, with many international companies returning to the festival for the first time since the pandemic. We’re proud that so many of the artists invited by Nabihah have made lasting connections in the city, such as the wonderful mural by Boudicca Collins and the community in Hangleton. We’re also thrilled to see the fantastic reaction to the beautifully restored Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre, through the audiences flocking to Van Gogh Alive

“I’d like to thank everyone who has helped make this very special festival possible,” Andrew continues, “all our supporters, sponsors and funders and especially our audiences and artists. It has been wonderful to host so many sold-out performances and see the arts, creativity and culture truly thriving in Brighton & Hove this year.”