Brighton is Busy this weekend. The Great Escape has descended, the rosé is flowing on every available terrace, the sun’s out (at the time of writing, at least), the artists’ open houses are in full swing, Fringe fun is everywhere and there’s a hash brown party over in Kemptown for reasons we fully support. From bestselling authors and free gigs to plant swaps, pickle beer and excellent brunches, here’s what we reckon is worth leaving the house for this weekend. We’d be doing all of it if we could only clone ourselves.
BOTI’S BEST BITS
Hang out with bestselling authors
If your idea of a good literary festival involves more than quietly nodding through a reading in a church hall, Beyond the Book Festival might well be right (write?) up your street. The one-day festival takes over the Friends Meeting House on Saturday with a properly stacked line-up including million-selling thriller author Adele Parks in conversation with her husband and film producer Jim Parks, plus panels on comic storytelling, humour in fiction and unreliable narrators. There’s also industry chats, book signings and what sounds like a super-fun workshop: an immersive crime-writing session with former detective Graham Bartlett and author G.D. Wright, digging into how real investigations become gripping fiction. Tl;dr: this is less dusty literary festival, more clever conversations, crime, writing tips and publishing gossip. Oh, and an exclusive after-party at Goldsboro Books for even more bookish chat.
Sat; 9.30am – 6pm (after-party ’til 8.30pm); £35
beyondthebookfestival.org
Discover new music
In case you hadn’t noticed (although if you hadn’t, you should maybe have a word with yourself), it’s The Great Escape at the moment and that means the streets are teeming with people and the sound of all kinds of music. And it’s not just for those who’ve bought tickets, either. There’s the Alt Escape – the free festival organised by the main Great Escape, then there’s the Alt Alt Escape and plenty of other offshoots, too. Yep, as ever, the choice is pretty overwhelming. If you don’t want to sift through all the listings (we don’t blame you) or wander aimlessly around town, these are our top picks for parking up for the duration: Mr Bongo’s legendary in-store/street party (1pm – 9pm; free; Mr Bongo HQ on Gloucester Road); Bella Union’s free-entry Greatest Ape (Fri; from 2pm – they also do great coffee); the Joy RSVP parties (at Unbarred on Fri from midday and Alphabet on Sat from 2pm; free entry, but you need to sign up); Pink Moon‘s alt alt escape shows (from 3.30pm on Fri; from 3pm on Sat; free); the Beach House Sessions and Tunecore collab for a special live recording session at the i360 event space (Fri; from 1pm; free; first people there get a free drink). If you want to soak up the Fringe action at the same time, then head to the eclectic Caravanserai on Friday for an afternoon of alt black music (2pm – 5pm). Stay for the evening for the free Permit Room takeover, bringing a night (6pm – 11pm) of South Asian music to the festival site. And on Saturday, there’s the Rose Hill’s Fake Escape (from 3pm; pay what you can). And if you do want to peruse them all, @bowiebartlett has done the hard work for you, creating an incredible free-to-use spreadsheet of every single free-entry/non-official show going on this weekend. Over 750 of them – you’ll need a comfy seat.
READ ALSO: Who Brighton musicians want to see at The Great Escape this year
Get into a pickle
BOTI (and everyone else’s) fave The Pickle is having a party in Kemptown this weekend. But it’s not just any party. Oh no, it’s a hash brown party. Missed the first one? You’re in for home-made loaded potato goodness, frozen pickly margs, pickly cocktails and the launch of their limited-edition pickle beer brewed with Brighton’s Loud Shirt Brewing Co. Briny and citrusy? Yes, please. You know this one’s got good vibes written all over it. We love it when a random food item turns into a full-blown event. Yep, it’s a very big dill (sorry).
Sat; 4.30pm – 8.30pm; free
The Pickle
Experience a moving sound and light installation
One of the most unusual Brighton Festival experiences this year is happening underneath the station. We Are Warriors transforms the eerie Cab Road tunnel beneath Brighton station into a huge immersive sound-and-light installation filled with hundreds of flickering lights and a haunting soundscape built from women’s, girls’, trans and non-binary voices. Visitors are invited to place their own light in tribute to someone “lost or silenced”, turning the old subterranean passage into something that’s part memorial, part artwork and part collective experience. It’s atmospheric and moving and unlike anything else in the festival programme. Plus, it’s not often you get to experience this hidden tunnel for art that’s been described as “heartbreakingly beautiful”.
Fri – Sun (and Wed 20th – Sun 24th May); 11am – 7pm; suggested donation £4
brightonfestival.org
Delicious eats and drinks
Patio have teamed up with Dice and are offering free flat whites on the terrace from 11am – 1pm on Friday. In other Patio news, their new cocktails dropped on Thursday and they sound seriously good. We definitely need a Tomatillo and black mustard leaf margarita. After a new breakfast spot? Check out the Scottish breakfast at Hooked in Kemptown. It’s generous, it includes tattie scones (which we’re now considering a brunch essential) and the service is fantastic. What more do you need? Coffee for less than a fiver? They’ve got it – coffees and matchas are just £3. And no, they didn’t pay us for this, we’re just excited as getting good coffee that you don’t have to take out a mortgage for is getting increasingly difficult. You may have heard the sad news that, due to spiralling costs, The Gingerman is closing. So, if you’ve been meaning to go and enjoy the beautiful food at this Brighton institution, this is your sign to eat there this weekend before it’s too late – they’re due to close in the coming months. Howie (currently serving up great food at The Greys in Hanover) has also landed at The Greenhouse in Hove and this soft launch week you can get vouchers for a whopping 50 percent off food. Finally, if you’ve got Great Escape tickets or are performing, you can get 25 percent off Pommy’s Pizza all weekend.
What else?
Killed all your plants again? There’s a community plant and seed swap and sale in Hanover on Saturday (opposite Constant Service on Islingword Road; 11am – 1pm; free). If you want to feel more impressed/depressed by the powers of AI, on Saturday evening, there’s a live piano concert of music composed by AI and performed by an award-winning pianist (6pm; from £14). The Hove Car Boot Sale is back with its second edition this Sunday (10am – 2pm; £1) – bargains and good food? We’re sold. Don’t forget FilmPride, the city’s LGBTQIA+ film fest, launches Sunday, when you can see documentary 3,000 Lesbians Go To York – how a lesbian bookseller turned the usually conservative UK city into an unlikely centre of lesbian culture (7pm; from £7.50). There’s more film fun on Sunday (7pm) at The Oak in Kemptown, where Forbidden Film Club are showing a free screening of 1978’s I Wanna Hold Your Hand, the lesser-known gem from Back To The Future‘s Robert Zemeckis. And, of course, there’s loads of Festival and Fringe action just waiting to be discovered.
Got an event you reckon we should know about? Want to take us out for coffee? Or maybe you just want to tell us you love us – we’ll take it all. Just drop us a line here hello@brightontheinside.co.uk (yep, still just the one on).
