It may be Friday the 13th, but the sun is (currently) shining, so it feels like it’s going to be a good day. Just in case, though, we’ve saluted magpies and walked around ladders. Come on in for lashings of the good stuff, from perfect pop-ups to top tunes.
Celebrate your dad this Sunday
Yes, it’s Father’s Day on Sunday (cue last-minute card/present panic) and plenty of Brighton restaurants have got some tasty deals for the dads in your life. Here’s a few of our favourites: Cin Cin are offering dads a free negroni with a three-course Sunday lunch, Burger & Lobster have got a free main meal for fathers, and dad’ll get a complimentary bottle of beer with food at Shelter Hall. If your dad’s a bit of a gin lover, take him for a roast at Hove’s Brighton Gin pub, the Bottom’s rest, and he’ll get a free G&T. No deals here, but if you’re after an excellent Sunday lunch, Kemptown gem Busby and Wilds have still got a few tables going – and yes, they are still open (they got a two-year extension to their lease, allowing them to stay)! Or take your dad along to an exhibition – Brighton and Hove museums have got discounted entry for fathers across all their sites this Sunday.
Revisit the style of the Mod era at this exhibition
Speaking of exhibitions, we’d recommend checking out Brighton Museum & Art Gallery’s latest: The In Crowd: Mod Fashion and Style 1958-1966. The small-but-beautifully curated exhibition offers a super-stylish insight into the 1960s sub-culture, its influences and its enduring appeal, showcasing full outfits (that we would totally still wear), music and photography. Your ticket gets you access to the rest of the museum, too – including a retrospective of clothes by original Brighton-born Mod brand Ben Sherman (whose new store in Duke’s Lane focuses on the brand’s heritage clothing) – and it’s well worth spending a few hours browsing all the exhibits. We’re just off to rewatch Quadrophenia. Mods, mods, we are mods.
Tuesdays – Sundays (until 4th January 2026); 10am – 5pm; from £7
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton BN1 1EE
brightonmuseums.org.uk
Go to a foodie pop-up
Food, glorious, food: there are some great pop-ups and food events happening this weekend. The epic one-night-only Oeuf x Med collab is on Friday and there are still a few tables up for grabs for the 6.30pm and 8.30pm sittings. Enjoy a tasty shared four-course menu for £50. Cutie Pies and Fries (excellent Detroit-style pizza that you need to try, in residence at the Star & Garter pub) are touching down at Hove’s Botanist Coffee Co on Friday (midday – 9pm) and Portuguese-Australian pop-up Fumar Cozinha are cooking up a storm at Shoreline Store and Kitchen on Friday, too. Bonus: they’ve both got some outdoor tables. And here’s our weekly reminder not to miss Cin Cin’s delectable small plates pop-up, Barbino, at Cases Wine Bar (Thursdays to Saturdays; from 6pm, until July). Yes, we know these are all in Hove! Here’s a Brighton one for you: Med’s Will Dennard is popping up again at Vine Bar on Sunday, this time with a cheeseburger-only menu – a meaty and a vegan one. Yes, please.
Celebrate 10 years of this Brighton club
Iconic seafront club Patterns turns 10 this year and, as part of a series of five shows in 2025, they’ve got a special four-hour set from trailblazing house duo Chaos in the CBD on Friday.
Friday 13th June; from 11pm; £18
10 Marine Parade, Brighton BN2 1TL
patternsbrighton.com
Soak up the rays on a sunny terrace
We’re resharing this as it’s supposed to be HOT this weekend. We’re in full-on summer mode, so a terrace hang is a must. And when you’ve got views like we have, there’s no excuse not to, really. These are some of our favourite spots right now. New restaurant Winkle has opened on the old Drifter site, right on the seafront, and co-owners Owen and PJ have created a space that captures and celebrates the spirit of Brighton – creative, welcoming, and a bit special without being exclusive – in everything from the food and drink to the wonderfully warm hospitality. Grab one of the tables on the patio – or a window table on the first floor – to indulge in brunch, dinner, or drinks and nibbles over great views. The crab mac and cheese bites are worth ordering twice. The new Hove venue from the Bison Beer gang, Babble, is fully open now so head down for some triple-terrace action with a great range of Bison brews, excellent food by Sam Lambert of Slam Tacos, sunrise yoga (8am) and killer sea views. Read more about it here. Pearly Cow recently launched its terrace and it’s a goodie. Perched directly opposite the West Pier with the i360 to the right, it’s the perfect spot for a long lazy lunch or for settling in to watch the sun go down with an excellent cocktail, some oysters or a pizzette fresh out of the outdoor pizza oven. Over past the pier, we’re still loving the newly democratised Cecconi’s for northern Italian dishes, decent wines and wide-ranging sea views from under those scalloped umbrellas; the gorgeous Reading Room – now with sofas and umbrellas! – for breakfast, brunch and weekend supper clubs; and old favourite Bison Beach Bar at Sea Lanes for a lively vibe with a side of seaview action. And you can’t beat The Setting Sun from near the top of hilly Hanover for a spot of, no surprises here, sunset-watching.
What else?
Shop for premium preloved clothes as the Preloved Atelier lands at Sutherland & Sadler’s store in Hove for a month-long pop-up (from Friday; 10am – 5pm; until 12th July). Helm art gallery’s back with its weekly edition of Take The Streets on Friday. Think DJs, cocktails, a tattoo artist, gorgeous art and great vibes (from 7pm; free, but worth reserving a table). There’s a plant sale down at Circus Street on Saturday (11am – 2pm). Independent Bookshop Week kicks off on Saturday, so you could celebrate your love of literature and support indie gems with this crawl of all the bookshops in the city (Saturday; 1pm – 5pm). You can join other book lovers or do the crawl on your own. If you love comics, anime and gaming then you’ll probably already know that it’s Brighton Comic Con this weekend and for everyone else, it looks pretty fun (10am – 4pm; from £10.41). There are guest talks and panels with the likes of old school sci-fi heroes Colin Baker and Brian Blessed, retro gaming, the 1966 Batmobile and loads more stuff that we clearly haven’t watched enough sci-fi to understand. There’s a cosplay competition too, so even if you don’t go, there’s your answer to why Brighton might look even more eclectic than usual on Saturday. The very first Glorious Day festival may have sold out, but you can still get tickets to their after-party at Patterns on Saturday (10.30pm – 3am; £11.25) with Smokin Jo and Mas Que Nada Bros. Next up, it’s the London to Brighton bike ride on Sunday – so be aware it’ll be extra busy down Marine Parade. Grab a pew early if you want to watch the riders come in.
Coming up next week
Brighton’s annual Book Festival kicks off on Wednesday; there’s a night of Big Pig Energy (teehee), ie a small-plates menu made from a single Calcot Farm pig, at The Windmill on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Flour Pot Bakery are launching our kind of day rave – a bakery day rave featuring pastries galore next Friday (10am – 2pm). And it’s Windrush Celebration Day next Sunday (midday – 4pm; free) at the Pavilion Gardens. White Wall Cinema’s got its VHS Fest next weekend – a trio of cult old-school films (The Lost Boys, Commando and Cocktail) and a giant video store to browse. Bring back Blockbuster!
