October’s getting busy! It’s the last weekend (sob) of OctoberBest, but there’s still a few spots at the best tables in town up for grabs, the Royal Pavilion ice rink opens for the season, and there are heaps of spooky events in our bumper Halloween guide. And we’ve also got some sustainable shopping tips, a weekend of creative tech and arts events, cut-price comedy (with special discount codes for you lucky lot), and much more.
Indulge in guilt-free shopping at a pre-loved pop-up
One of our favourite pop-ups is returning to Studio 50 in Hove with heaps of pre-loved clothes and accessories. You’ll find some of BOTI’s much-loved resellers there, like Secret Store Pop-up, Circle Boutique, and Styling by Bec: they’ll each be bringing their own expert edit of pre-loved fashion from designer and high-end high street labels – all in fantastic condition and at great prices. Think gorgeous pieces from the likes of Rixo, Isabel Marant, The Vampire’s Wife, Ganni, Wyse London, Anine Bing, Maje, Rick Owens and Vic and Bert. Woven Store Online will also be selling their curated collection of sustainable goodies and gorgeous Brighton perfume boutique Soliflore will be making their debut appearance at the event with a bevy of scent-sational niche fragrances and candles.
Friday 25th October; 5.30pm – 8pm; Saturday 26th October; 10am – 4pm; free
50 Brunswick Street West, Hove, BN3 1EL
studio50hove.com
Swap til you drop at this sustainable fundraiser
Want to be even more sustainable? Then head along to this charity clothes swap on Sunday, stock up on new-to-you goodies, eat some excellent cake at the cafe, and meet some like-minded climate-conscious souls. As well as changing up your wardrobe (you can bring up to 15 clean items in good condition), your ticket price will help support The Real Junk Food Project, which rescues food waste to cook up delicious meals on a pay-as-you feel basis under the marvellous motto ‘feed bellies not bins’. You’ll be awarded points for every item you bring that you can then ‘spend’ on anything that takes your fancy. And if you run out of points, but you spot something else you’d like, you can ‘buy’ it with an extra donation to the charity.
Sunday 27th October; arrive from 4pm to drop off your items, swap starts at 4.45pm – 6pm; £6
Fitzherbert Community Hub, 2 Bristol Road, Brighton, BN2 1AP
Buy tickets
Brave the sea and raise money for charity
Swimwear brand Speedo have teamed up with Pride Swim to raise money for the national LGBTQIA+ charity Switchboard Helpline, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The Big Dip will see around 200 swimmers – that includes you, if you’re brave enough – don bright orange Speedo x Pride swim caps and take a dip together to celebrate community connection and the power of water to boost mental and physical wellbeing. The entry fee includes your cap, a medal and a Speedo goody bag and you’ll have the chance to get stuck into a pre-dip beach clean and a post-event celebration, too. Dress to impress as there’s a competition for the best ‘Prided-up swimmers’ – interpret that as you will!
Saturday 26th October; 1.30pm; from £5.50
Sea Lanes, 300 Madeira Drive, Brighton, BN2 1BX
outsavvy.com
Stuff your face for free
It’s apparently World Pasta Day on Friday (as well as World Champagne Day, who knew) so pasta chain Pasta Evangelists are dishing out 200 portions of pasta in Hove (where they have a dark kitchen for deliveries) between 3pm and 4pm for free to celebrate. If you’re there in time, you’ll be able to choose one of their most popular dishes, the beef shin ragu or the veggie pasta with wild mushroom sauce.
Friday 25th October; 3pm – 4pm; free
104 Portland Road, Hove, BN3 5DW
pastaevangelists.com
Laugh your socks off with some cut-price comedy
Our friends at Bison Beer have offered BOTI readers a whopping great discount on their Yeah Buoy comedy night at Sea Lanes on Friday. Tbh, this is already one of the best-value comedy nights in town, but if you enter BTNLAUGH at checkout (it’s applied automatically if you click the link below), you’ll get your tickets for half price (a mere £6.13). Cheap tickets doesn’t translate to cheap laughs, though, you’ll be treated to some of the best up-and-coming acts from London, Edinburgh Fringe, and more. We’d advise not hanging around if you’re keen as there’s a cap on the number of discounted tickets. On a bigger and more celeb-tastic scale, the Brighton Comedy Festival at Brighton Dome kicks off this Thursday (Thursday 24th – Sunday 27th October; various times and prices), featuring the likes of Nish Kumar, Maisie Adam, Sara Pascoe and Brighton’s own Jam Tarts’ indie choir performing Modern Toss’ infamous Periodic Table of Swearing (there’s also an interactive Modern Toss exhibition celebrating 20 years of their ‘unique brand of precision swearing’).
Friday 25th October; 8pm – 10pm; £6.13 (with 50 percent off)
Bison Beach Bar at Sea Lanes, 300 Madeira Drive, Brighton, BN2 1BX
Get tickets
Get dreamy with Dreamy Place
Dreamy Place (what used to be Brighton Digital Festival) is back for 2024 with over 20 events merging creative tech and arts. Take your pick from an exciting array of immersive installations, interactive activities, dance performances, workshops, live electronic music nights, talks, outdoor film trails, and more. One of the stand-out events for us is Collectif Scale’s Ammonite, showing in the secret cab run tunnel (where Do Not Obstruct have previously held art exhibitions) below Brighton station. Built in Victorian times for horse-drawn carriages, it’s normally closed to the public. Intriguingly, the Paris group’s otherwordly light and sound installation is designed to replicate the natural architecture of a prehistoric shell (warning: there are strobe lights). There’s also a nighttime queer film trail with film and video works submitted by LGBTQIA+ artists being projected onto buildings around Kemptown, transforming St James’ Street into a pretty special outdoor cinema.
Friday 25th – Sunday 27th October; various times and places
dreamy-place.com