There’s something about the first weekend of September that makes us want to buy stationery despite already having far too much of the stuff. Resist the pull of the fancy notebooks for a moment, because there’s a lot going on: Brighton’s first Dyke Pride, a countryside pool party, free cabaret, new Japanese street food, art in miniature, late-night Fridays (until 9pm!) at The Open Market and films for four quid. Phew, And of course, some of the bits we’ve already told you about, like the opening weekend of Brighton’s newest jazz bar Deep Dive (formerly Nanima), a full day of music at Psych Fest and the final weekend of the brilliant Revel Puck Circus. And guess what, most of it’s rain proof – hurrah!
BOTI’S BEST BITS
Soak up sunset sounds and fresh art
Brighton’s seafront is getting a soundtrack tonight as Sunset Sessions are back for more live music and good vibes by the sea. This time they’re teaming up with photographer Callum Cutler for the launch of his People of Brighton exhibition at the Seafront Gallery. It’s a three-week celebration of the characters who make the city what it is, and tonight some of its musicians get to step out of the pictures and perform. There’ll be live sets from Brighton artists Hutch, Imani Ruiz and Phonetic, plus local pop covers from The Pop Orchestra. It’s free, it’s right by the beach and Hutch is on at 8pm, so it’s perfectly timed to catch an actual sunset.
Fri; 6pm – 9pm
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Have a night out that’s good for you
Wellbeing festivals usually involve a yoga mat and an alarmingly early start. The Old Market is trying something rather different with Feel Good, its new festival exploring the ways music, art and live events can make us feel better. This weekend you can step inside an immersive nature soundbath or spend Sunday evening deep-listening at Flux. Saturday night gets livelier with EOTT’s Lightworks Night Time, a £7 club night where the stage sits in the middle of the room and Allexa Nava, Imani Ruiz, Lovellious and Offie Mag provide the soundtrack. There are also creative workshops from Mind, Body + Earth, games and a beanbag-filled chill space when your dancing legs need a break. The festival continues into next week with The Plough, which sits somewhere between a concert, film and installation, and Anatom, an event explores the human body through film, soundscapes and a live string quartet. A whole new wave of green juice-free wellness essentially.
Until Tuesday 8th September; various times and prices; The Old Market, Hove
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Celebrate Brighton’s first Dyke Pride
Brighton has had Pride for decades, but somehow never a Dyke Pride. That changes this Saturday, when a new grassroots celebration takes over St Ann’s Well Gardens for seven hours of free, DIY dykery. Set up by a small group who wanted an alternative to the increasingly corporate mainstream Pride, the day is resolutely trans-inclusive, cross-generational and community-owned, with DJs, drag and cabaret, queer line dancing, workshops, crafts, tarot and Brighton Dyke Mart. The line-up includes Aflo The Poet, Simply the Jest, Dairy King, AZ and Leena Fury, with a quieter hangout space away from the main stage too. And the party doesn’t stop when the park closes: there’s an official afterparty at Ironworks from 8pm. This is one celebration that feels well overdue.
Sat; 1pm – 8pm; free; afterparty from £4
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Get first dibs on Brighton’s new Japanese food truck
A brand-new Japanese food truck is making its Brighton debut this Saturday, and the pictures alone have us planning lunch. Irori is chef Koji’s new roaming kitchen, built around the simple idea of good Japanese food, charcoal cooking and actually getting to chat to the people eating it. The name comes from the traditional sunken hearth families once gathered around in Japan, only this one has wheels. Recent menu testing has included pork katsu curry with crisp panko, Japanese pickles, soy-marinated egg and tonkatsu sauce, plus teriyaki chicken with sesame green beans. Its first outing is at St George’s Family Day in Kemptown, before the truck heads off for pop-ups at Lost + Found Taproom, 9 Vines and The Foghorn later this month.
Sat; 1pm – 6pm; St George’s Church, Kemptown
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(FROM) FRIDAY
Step inside a gallery within a gallery
Tboy has gone small for his latest exhibition. Teensy in fact. Inside the Box sees the Brighton artist build his dream gallery as a 1/12-scale, Mies van der Rohe-inspired glass pavilion in the middle of Hove’s Regency Town House, complete with 25 tiny original artworks by 25 artists from around the world. Around it, you’ll find their full-size work, while downstairs there’s a dedicated Tboy room, new one-off neons made with Neon Tony and work from Orange Boy. Friday’s the livelier option, with a DJ, bar and drink on arrival, while Saturday is a more relaxed final chance to have a nose around and buy something. Entry is free, but you’ll need to book a slot and availability is getting a bit tight, so don’t hang around.
Fri, 4pm – 10pm; Sat, 11.30am – 4.30pm; free
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Move into The Living Room
Brighton has a new movement studio, and it’s launching with considerably more fun than a ribbon cutting. The Living Room opens Preston Circus this weekend with a mix of yoga, music, dancing and short taster classes, built around the rather appealing idea that exercise doesn’t always need to involve punishment or self-improvement. Friday starts with a music-led Yoga Flow + Motion class before the studio turns into a disco for opening night. Saturday’s your chance to try a selection of mini-classes, before everyone comes back down again with yin yoga and sound bowls to finish. You can dip into one session or make a day of it, and everything is designed to be accessible to complete beginners.
Fri and Sat; various times; free
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(FROM) SATURDAY
Get your dog on the podium
Does your dog look worryingly like you? Have a party trick they’ve been waiting to unleash? St Ann’s Well Gardens is going to the dogs this Saturday, with a full-on canine day out in partnership with animal welfare charity Raystede. The dog show kicks off at 2pm, with categories including Looks Like Owner, Best Trick, Young Handler, Special Senior, Cutest Mixed Breed and Rescue Stars, while Raystede’s team will be offering free vet nurse checks and behaviour advice. There are free training workshops too, including loose-lead walking at 11.30am and settle training at 12.30pm, plus stalls and, importantly, plenty of sausages.
Sat; 11am – 4pm; free entry; dog show registration from 1pm, £3 per category or £5 for two
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Have a wellness binge
Can’t decide whether your body needs yoga, a massage or someone to have a proper look at your spine? Temples7 wellness studio’s Move and Mend Festival is offering the lot this weekend. They’ve teamed up with Brighton and Hove studios and practitioners for two days of classes, treatments and recovery sessions, all covered by a single festival pass. Saturday’s got Hatha yoga, Qi Gong, Yoga Nidra, holotropic breathwork and a sound bath, alongside massages, ear acupuncture, Spinal Energetics and sessions on acupuncture and spinal care while Sunday keeps the stretching and soothing going with belly dance, more massage, acupuncture and another sound bath.
Sat and Sun; various times; from £20
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Release your inner comic-book nerd
You won’t need to wait until Halloween to wander around Brighton surrounded by superheroes, Stormtroopers and some impressively committed costumes (although, let’s face it, that could just be any day in our fair city). Brighton & Hove Comic Con has taken over two spaces at Brighton Dome this weekend, filling the Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre with comics, gaming, anime, collectables, artists, traders and plenty of cosplay. There are interactive bits and activities too, plus an appearance from Chris Bunn, one of the original Stormtroopers from Star Wars. It runs all weekend, so Sunday is your last chance to have a rummage for collectables, admire other people’s impressive cosplay skills or give that cape an outing.
Sat and Sun; 10am – 5pm; from £14.50
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Get on board with Pearl and Dean
Brighton Fringe may be packed away for another year, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still plenty of cabaret shows to enjoy. Case in point: after two sell-out Fringe runs (and a rave BOTI review), Pearl and Dean are back at Komedia this Saturday to launch All Aboard, a new quarterly night promising comedy, music, magic and whatever else they can squeeze onto the Watery Queen vessel. They’ve recruited local musical comedian Hannah Brackenbury, comedy magician Katherine Rhodes and Fab Goualin, who arrives back from Edinburgh with the small matter of having the Fringe’s funniest joke of 2026 under his belt. Mark Adri-Soejoko and Anthony Murley are joining the passenger list too. Get ready to set sail on a variety show in the loosest and silliest sense, hosted by Brighton’s self-proclaimed most “heterosexual” couple in showbiz. Strap in for a night of silly, camp fun.
Sat; 7.30pm; from £13
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LagoonFest takes over Hove Lagoon
Need (even) more dogs in your life (plus a host of other fun stuff)? Then you need LagoonFest. The free community festival at Hove Lagoon packs a lot into five hours, with music, local stalls, face painting, live art from Cassette Lord, George Fox and Pauly the Painter, and £3 SUP, kayak and canoe challenges on the lagoon. The dog show has everything from Cutest Puppy and Best Rescue to the rather excellent Temptation Alley and Sausage Catcher, while the L Shaped Comedy Tent pits comics against kids and hosts a Mum and Dad Joke of the Year competition. There’s also a raffle with must-have prizes including a special-edition Fatboy Slim/Modfather Albion shirt signed on the box by Norman Cook.
Sat; 11am – 4pm; free (some events are ticketed)
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See a film for four quid
Here’s a weekend bargain we can get behind: every film at Duke of York’s Picturehouse and Dukes at Komedia Picturehouse is just £4 this Saturday and Sunday for National Cinema Weekend. That includes shiny new releases such as The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Leviticus and The Death of Robin Hood, alongside another chance to catch classics on the big screen. Dukes at Komedia has Seven Samurai and Terminator 2: Judgment Day among its Sunday picks, while Duke of York’s is getting in on the cheap-ticket action with an 11pm Duke’s After Dark screening of gloriously ’90s cyber-thriller Hackers on Saturday. Four quid to spend two hours somewhere dark ignoring the outside world? Sold.
Sat and Sun; £4 per film
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Catch some free cabaret by the sea
New(ish) Kemptown cabaret bar The Birdcage is making Saturday night pleasingly easy (and good value): turn up, order one of their fun cocktails and watch the brilliant Crudi Dench (another one of our Fringe must-sees) take to the main stage for an hour of free drag cabaret, with live vocals and comedy in the mix. Get there early to nab a seat in the actual birdcage, right by the stage. It’s a good spot to have on your radar for its friendly, welcoming vibes alone, but there’s also free cabaret every Friday and Saturday, plus a movie night and Brighton Queer Social every Monday too.
Sat; 9.30pm – 10.30pm; free
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SUNDAY
Get heavy at Sound Affects
Slipknot, H.R. Giger, death-metal Christians and Aleister Crowley in puppet form. Phew. Sound Affects is going heavy with its latest night of talks about music and subcultures. Author Dan Franklin is launching his new book exploring Slipknot, nu metal and the strange, angry world surrounding their 2001 album Iowa, while curator Myroslava Halushka will dig into the work and influence of Alien artist H.R. Giger. Then things get a little bit weirder: Myra Stuart is bringing along her Aleister Crowley (an English occultist and magician) puppet to channel some fleece-based occult wisdom. There’s also a screening of Jesus Loves Goths, founder Jak Hutchcraft’s Vice documentary about a London Bible study group for metalheads, punks and goths, followed by a discussion with Hutchcraft about the years he spent documenting them. This was for an entertaining and informative night out.
Sun; 7.39pm; £8
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Check out unseen shots of punk icons
Before punk, new wave and ska became the stuff of retrospectives, Spike Waltzer was there with his camera. His exhibition Picture This: A Public Image brings a collection of previously unseen photographs taken in LA venues between 1978 and 1980 to Pink Moon, with John Lydon, The Clash, Blondie, The Cramps, 999, Sham 69, Madness, The Selecter, The Specials, The Undertones, The Go-Go’s and Patti Smith among the faces caught on film and on the walls of one of Brighton’s coolest spots. The exhibition has already travelled to London and Manchester and now returns to Brighton as part of the city’s 50 Years of Punk celebrations. If you want the chance to see it here first, and for free, head to Pink Moon on Sunday for the opening party.
Sun; 7pm – 11pm; free
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Find out who’ll betray Reuben Solo
Australian comedian Reuben Solo lands Komedia Brighton on Sunday with a show that sounds like it mixes stand-up with a rather elaborate act of revenge. Someone in This Crowd Will Betray Me – Revenge Edition sees him attempting to work out exactly who in the audience is going to turn on him, complete with a camera strapped to his head and, according to the show description, “knives in his back”. It’s an updated version of his sold-out 2025 show, which picked up a Best Show nomination at the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards no less, while Solo himself can also claim the less conventional accolade of having been booed on America’s Got Talent. Intrigued? There are two chances to see what all that looks like on Sunday – don’t hang around though, it’s almost sold out at the time of writing.
Sun; 4.30pm and 7.30pm
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GET OUTTA TOWN
Squeeze in one last pool party
Summer’s technically still hanging on, so stunning hotel Crafted at Powdermills is making a day of it with an end-of-season pool party that sounds rather more Ibiza hotel than East Sussex countryside. Take a dip in the outdoor pool or wild-swimming area in the lake, then dry off for cocktails, an outdoor kitchen, wellness sessions, a padel social and music running into sunset. DJ and electro-funk pioneer Greg Wilson is headlining by the expansive lake, with HiFi Sean poolside, plus cocktail masterclasses and a drink included with your ticket. The party runs until 11pm for day guests, but if you book into the hotel, you’ll also get access to the after-party and trust us, the hotel (and its breakfast) are a dream.
Sat; from 11am; from £15
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Go art-hopping around Sussex
Artwave is back this weekend, turning a sizeable chunk of East Sussex into one enormous, free art trail. More than 170 venues are taking part this year, and ‘venue’ is being used pretty loosely: expect to nose around artists’ homes and studios alongside potteries, churches, farms and even disused windmills. Now in its 33rd year, the festival stretches across Lewes, Seaford, Newhaven, Peacehaven and the surrounding villages, with hundreds of artists and makers showing everything from painting and printmaking to ceramics, textiles, jewellery and sculpture. It’s uncurated too, so emerging artists and students sit alongside established names, and everything is free to visit. This is very much a pick-a-trail, see-where-you-end-up kind of weekend rather than something you need to tackle in its entirety.
Sat 5th – Sun 20th September; various opening times; free
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