Fed up with supposedly romantic Valentine’s Day dinners where you’re squished together with loads of other equally uncomfortable/bored-looking couples? Yep, us too. Love isn’t just about romance anyway. So whatever your situation – loved up, single, looking for a fun night out with friends – we’ve put together our favourite alternatives to the usual V Day shenanigans.
Be still our beating heart
Love is (supposed to be) at the heart of Valentine’s Day, so why not, quite literally, get to the heart of the matter? Welcome to Anatomy Nights: Matters of the Heart, where anatomy experts from Brighton and Sussex Medical School are back to show visitors how this oh-so-vital organ really works. They’ll be dissecting an animal heart to demonstrate how blood enters, how real heartstrings work and the mechanics behind its beating beauty. Afterwards, if you’re still upright, there’s the opportunity to don some gloves and get involved, as well as ask questions. First on our list, can you really die of a broken heart?
Tuesday 14th February, 6.30pm – 7.30pm; £5 (proceeds go to local heart charities), tickets also available on the door
Komedia, 44 – 47 Gardner Street, Brigthon BN1 1UN
komedia.co.uk
Choose love
Did someone say party? Welcome to Refugee Valentine, an annual event set up by the Sussex Refugee Migrant Self-Support Group in 2016 to celebrate the diversity and spectrum of love. With Refugee Valentine, their aim is to showcase acts from the refugee, asylum seeker and precarious migrant communities to celebrate love and connection. And with live acts playing West African fusion, Latin and salsa, Ukrainian folk and Tajikstan trad, we reckon it’s the perfect celebration of love that transcends borders.
Tuesday 14th February; 7pm – 11pm; from £17
The Old Market, Upper Market Street, Hove BN3 1AS
theoldmarket.com
A tale of two misfits
We love to jump into other people’s lives through film, especially on days like Valentine’s, so luckily for us, BOTI faves White Wall Cinema have come up trumps with their special Valentine’s pop-up screening. They’re putting on Harold and Maude, the 1971 unorthodox but heart-warming tale of two societal misfits. White Wall Cinema describe it as “riotously morbid and life-affirming, it follows the friendship of the young well-to-do, suicide-faking oddball Harold and his new, equally kooky, companion, octogenarian Maude”. With its dark humour, charm and iconic soundtrack, this cult classic is the perfect antidote to the typical schmaltzy V Day film offerings.
Tuesday 14th February; film starts at 8.10pm; £9.39
Wagner Hall, Regency Road, Brighton BN1 2RU
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It’s a kind of magic
The finer details are being kept firmly under wraps for this immersive Valentine’s event. The night kicks off with a combination of titillating entertainment (think burlesque, dance, circus, spoken word) that they say will “awaken desires and tease senses”, followed up by a screening of cult 2016 horror comedy The Love Witch. Consider us bewitched.
Tuesday 14th February; 7pm – 10.30pm; from £17.50 (includes one drink)
The Actors, 4 Prince’s Street, Brighton BN2 1RD
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Ballet beautiful
Swan Lake, probably the greatest romantic ballet of all time, is most appropriately, on at Brighton Theatre Royal on Tuesday, aka Valentine’s Day. Brought to life by Tchaikovsky’s haunting and unforgettable score, it’s performed by Bulgaria’s acclaimed Varna International Ballet and Orchestra who are visiting the UK for the first time in their 75-year history. And yes, the above picture is Giselle, not Swan Lake, and that’s on on Monday 13th if you fancy a poignant slice of love, treachery and forgiveness instead.
Tuesday 14th February; 2.30pm and 7.45pm; from £24.65
Theatre Royal Brighton, New Road, Brighton BN1 1SD
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