This year’s International Women’s Day (8th March) theme is Accelerate Action, highlighting the importance of taking rapid action to break down the systemic barriers and bias women face both at work and in their personal lives. If things progress at the current rate, data from the World Economic Forum shows that it’ll take a whopping a 133 years – until 2158 – before full gender parity is achieved. Yikes. So whilst we’ve come a long way since the first IWD in 1911 when it was all about women’s right to work, vote and hold office, we’ve still got a (very) long way to go. All the more reason to celebrate women right now! Read on to discover some of the best IWD events in Brighton and Hove.
Get together, make a beer, have fun
Beery goodness incoming! The excellent Hand Brew Co. gang are back with their IWD collab brew bonanza for women and non-binary people and, as ever, it’s a goodie. If you like beer, or you’ve ever been interested in working in the beer and brewing industry (or already do), then this is for you. As well as the opportunity to meet other beer enthusiasts and professionals and make a beer together – an 8 percent DIPA using Krush hops – in a friendly, inclusive atmosphere, here’s what else you can expect: talks and films on the history of women in beer, a live home brew-along, a book club discussing Chana Porter’s The Thick and the Lean, life drawing with Hand Brew founder Jen Left, a belly-dancing workshop, a craft workshop, sea shanty singing with Homeward Bound, a charity raffle, and a postcard-making station with our fave Bitter Women Brewery. And that’s just for starters. And did we mention it’s all free (including lunch and beer) and that dogs and little ones are welcome?
Friday 7th March, 9am – 5.30pm; free but please RSVP
Hand Brew Co, Unit 6a, Garcia Trading Estate, Canterbury Road, Worthing, BN13 1AL
Book tickets here
Celebrate amazing women in the arts with performances galore
The Old Market’s brilliant Reigning Women programme is back, celebrating women in the arts across all genres. There’s electronic and contemporary music, a true crime show about folk music and grief, poetry, spoken word, dance, and a comedy show performed entirely by a horse (!). Excitingly, 2025 also marks the 200th anniversary of the building as well as one year of TOM being an independent charity, so there’s even more to celebrate!
Various dates, times and prices
The Old Market, Upper Market Street, Hove, BN3 1AS
theoldmarket.com
Have an inspiration-fuelled lunch
Fashion designer and confidence coach Elif Köse is back with another edition of her inspirational IWD lunch at The Grand on Saturday. Alongside bubbles, a live DJ and a lunch of posh sarnies, cakes, tea and coffee, she’s curated a feast of talks from inspirational trailblazers under the banner of ‘Unleashing the power of women’. Speakers and panellists sharing their stories and inspiration include leadership coach Abi Osho, City Girl Network founder Pippa Moyle (don’t forget to vote in the Brighton Girl awards btw) and Connected Brighton founder Lindsay Clay. The event also promises some ‘special surprises’, but they’re keeping those under wraps until the big day.
Saturday 8th March; 11am – 4pm; £69
The Grand Hotel, 97 – 99, Kings Road, Brighton, BN1 2FW
iwd.elifkose.com
Meet other inspiring women over a tasty brunch
Why have just one brunch when you can have two? Start early with this one and then carry on the celebrations! This one’s organised by Ruby Moon Swim’s Jo-Anne Godden and Eye Storm’s Mi Elfverson who are both speaking at the event, an intimate (50 people max) IWD celebration at Greek restaurant Nostos in Hove. You’ll be able to tuck into a buffet of spinach and feta pies, sausage rolls, and cake (dietaries catered for) while listening to the speeches and making new connections.
Saturday 8th March; 9.30am – 11.30am; £20.21
Nostos, 63A Holland Road, Hove, BN3 1BA
Book tickets
Make a splash this IWD
Adventure blogger PinkNicky, aka Nicky Chisholm, is gathering 500 swimmers in Brighton to put on the biggest open-water swim for IWD in the UK this Saturday for 2025’s Big Swim (there are a further 500 taking to the water in Dorset if you’re over that way). Swim tickets are sold out (you can add yourself to the waiting list), but it’s a great opportunity to head down and show your support for those braving the icy waters to celebrate women and their shared love of the sea. This is a non-profit event – all revenue goes towards providing safety support on land and at sea during the event, with £1 from every ticket going to support the work of Surfers Against Sewage.
Saturday 9th March; 11.30am; £6.13
Meet on the beach opposite Sea Lanes
Book tickets
Celebrate IWD with Black Brighton Market
Black Brighton Market, a platform where the BIPOC community can showcase and sell their work, have put together a special edition of their creative community market to celebrate International Women’s Day. Think art, accessories, beauty, candles, fashion, jewellery and more, plus a raffle, an open mic and a headline performance from London singer-songwriter Nubian Glitter.
Saturday 8th March; midday – 6pm; free
The Actors Pub, Brighton, BN2 1RD
blackbrighton.wordpress.com
Reflect, move and connect at a personal growth workshop
Lawyer-turned-coach and podcaster Lulu Minns has teamed up with yoga teacher Kelly Jarvis to offer a two-hour workshop for IWD that couples reflective practices with gentle somatic yoga. Drawing on her seven-year growth cycle programme (the idea is that our purpose naturally shifts every seven years), Lulu will give you practical tools to help you understand the impact of this and how you can harness it to live your best life. Even better, it’s two for one, so if you buy a ticket, you can bring a friend along for free.
Sunday 9th March; 1pm – 3pm; £47.30
Humankind, 22 Montague Street, Brighton, BN2 1JX
Book tickets
Cheer on kickass women at a fun business brunch
No, it’s not an oxymoron, business brunches can be fun with the right host. And writer and broadcaster Bibi Lynch is that host. This year, co-working space Platf9rm have turned their annual Kickass Women event into an empowering business mixer where women from all walks of life can mingle and find new connections. Bibi will lead a panel of inspiring women sharing their stories while Loam, Bloody Bens, Mozzo and Secret Vineyard will be feeding and watering hungry guests.
Saturday 8th March; 10am – 1.30pm; from £22.38
Platf9rm, Hove Town Hall, Church Road, Hove, BN3 2AF
platf9rm.com
And there’s more…
Komedia are putting on a belter of a celebratory night on Saturday with an IWD special Let’s Go Girls club night. Think women-led tunes across the eras from the likes of Charli XCX, Chappell Road, Destiny’s Child, Rihanna, Avril Lavigne and Kim Wilde, plus drinks deals galore. Also on Saturday, Capsule Records in Hove have got an all female line-up of DJs playing in store all day. And Brighton’s newest (and quite possibly coolest) venue Waxing Pink is having an all-day IWD party and fundraiser (for Sussex sexual assault referral unit Saturn Centre) on Saturday. They’ll be playing full albums by the likes of Nina Simone and Lauryn Hill during the day with rare grooves, Latin, funk and soul by night. And there’s excellent dim sum and coffee, too. Or head to Shelter Hall on Saturday for a free live contemporary performance from dance legends Ceyda Tanc Dance (5pm) and on Sunday for the launch of the food hall’s newest kitchen – the female-founded Stakehaus. They’re giving away 50 steaks every day from Sunday for six days, first come first served! Preloved specialists Circle Store are holding a pop-up market of female makers with UK-made sweatshirts, velvet pouches, sustainable sportswear, and handmade items from thrifted fabric on sale (Saturday; midday – 4pm). And small-but-perfectly-formed fragrance boutique Soliflore is hosting preloved clothing legends Secret Store Pop-Up and Emma Stanton Jewellery for a wallet-emptying day of female small biz shopping joy (Saturday; 10am – 5pm).
