Top of the morning to you, BOTI gang, and welcome to another edition of the weekend guide written by our sweaty (but fragrant) selves. We’ve got some great stuff for you this weekend, from more free ice-cream (will it ever stop? We bloody hope not) to vintage picnics, coffee parties, drum & bass legends, and an excellent reason to get out of the city – temporarily, of course.
FRIDAY
Get coffee for a £1
We love Pink Moon for many reasons (gorgeous vibes, great events, tasty dumplings), but on Friday, there’s another reason to add to the list: all their coffees are just a quid from 9am – 12pm because it’s Brighton Coffee Festival weekend (more on that below).
Fri; 9am – 12pm; £1
More info
Celebrate all kinds of minds
Local charity Grace Eyre is throwing a party for neurodiversity (Neurodiverse-city) this Friday – and everyone’s invited. That means live music, art, games, face painting, performers, food, and plenty of chances to meet local organisations championing neurodivergent people in Brighton. The free daytime festival (midday – 5pm) is followed by a ticketed (£15; 5pm – 9pm) 18+ evening show packed with comedy, live music, dance and beatboxing, all showcasing neurodivergent talent.
Fri; from free; from midday
Book tickets
Dance into the sunset
Sunsets are lovely. A sunset while belting out 90s bangers that nobody else can hear? Even better. Grab a pair of headphones and head to Whitecliffs Café in Saltdean for a beachside silent disco, with three channels to flick between: 60s and 70s, 80s and 90s, or an “anything goes” mix. Sea views, drinks from the bar and, if we’re lucky, a cracking sunset included.
Fri; 7pm – 9pm; £12
Book tickets
Find your people on the rooftop
Making friends as an adult is not easy. Middle Kid Club is trying to fix that with a summer rooftop party at The Mesmerist, bringing together people who fancy meeting someone new without the awkward networking vibes. Expect welcome drinks, DJs, games, food and plenty of chances to chat, whether you turn up with mates or come solo.
Fri; 7pm – 10pm; £15
Book tickets
Make mushroom mates
If you think mushrooms begin and end with the supermarket aisle, prepare to have your mind changed. Brighton Fungi Social (from the people behind the Brighton Fungi Festival) brings together talks on the hidden world of urban fungi, mushroom papermaking demos, the science behind medicinal mushrooms, live ambient music inspired by fungi and the chance to sample locally made mushroom tinctures. It’s free, fascinating, guaranteed to make your next woodland walk a lot more interesting and there’s no mycology degree required.
Fri; 6pm – 10pm; free but reserve your spot
Book tickets
SATURDAY
Get your caffeine hit at the Brighton Coffee Festival
Latte art, cupping sessions and more free samples and tasters than you can shake a reusable cup at – the Brighton Coffee Festival is back, taking over All Saints in Hove for a celebration of all things coffee. Get ready for a weekend packed with local roasters, national stars, and a line-up of talks and workshops that are educational, entertaining and delicious.
Sat and Sun; from £16.50
Book tickets
Make your phone camera work for you
Your camera roll deserves better than 17 versions of the same sunset. Photographer Eva Kalpadaki is running a hands-on workshop showing you how to get more out of the camera already in your pocket, covering composition, editing with Snapseed and the tricks behind taking photos you’ll actually want to keep rather than getting home and realising everything you shot is skew-whiff (just us?). This sounds educational and fun as you’ll spend as much time out shooting around Brighton as you will learning the theory in the six-hour workshop.
Sat; 10.30am; £87.38
Book tickets
Get free ice-cream floats this weekend
If free ice-cream is on offer, the only questions we’re asking are where is it and how do we get our hands on it. We’ll help you out: for one weekend only, Pepsi (of not Coca-Cola fame) is opening a retro Y2K-style pop-up ice-cream parlour in the Lanes. The parlour’s taking over one of the shops on Dukes Lane with a menu of ice-cream float drinks made with their new Pepsi Ice-Cream Zero-Sugar flavours and Creams Cafe gelato. And yes, it’s absolutely free, the only catch is that you do need to book a slot.
Sat and Sun; 11am – 7pm; free
Book tickets
Dig for vinyl treasures
Whether you’re hunting for a rare first pressing or just fancy flicking through crates for a couple of hours, BOTI fave First Press Record Fair is back with its biggest event yet. More than 20 carefully chosen sellers will be filling the Brighthelm Centre with records spanning every genre, soundtracked by vinyl-only DJ sets throughout the day. Once you’ve finished filling your tote bag, head to the afterparty at the Earth & Stars for more DJs, beers from Abyss Brewing and music until midnight.
Sat; 12pm – 4pm (afterparty 4pm – 12am); free
More information
Pack a picnic and dress like it’s 1816
Forget meal deals on the beach. Regency tailor and historical dress enthusiast Zack Pinsent is hosting a picnic on the Royal Pavilion’s King’s Lawn, where the dress code is Regency, vintage or historical clothing. Bring your own picnic, roll out a blanket, enjoy a welcome glass of Sussex fizz and spend the afternoon pretending Brighton is still the playground of the Prince Regent
Sat; 1pm; £25
Book tickets
Watch adventure films under the stars
Forget Hollywood blockbusters. Frontier Sapiens is bringing its open-air adventure film festival back to One Garden in Stanmer Park on Saturday, with a night of short films exploring epic journeys, environmental stories and life at the edge of human possibility. Think mountains, oceans, wild landscapes and people doing things most of us would (not so) politely decline.
Sat; 8.45pm; from £17.50
Book tickets
Catch Brighton favourites The Gulls
One of Brighton’s best-loved rock bands is back where they belong. The Gulls return to Alphabet for a hometown gig, promising the swaggering guitars, singalong hooks and gloriously raucous energy that’s earned them a loyal local following. If you’ve somehow never seen them live, this is a pretty good place to start. It’s waitlist only now, but it’s worth adding yourself, just in case. These guys give excellent live show.
Sat; 7pm
Join waiting list
See a drum & bass legend at Volks
If you know your drum & bass history, you know Goldie needs no introduction. The Metalheadz founder and one of the scene’s true pioneers is back at Volks for a rare two-hour set as part of the venue’s 30th birthday celebrations, joined by Submotive and a stacked supporting line-up. Get ready for an all-night sesh of heavyweight basslines and one of the genre’s biggest names in this intimate seaside club.
Sat; £15.65; 11pm – 7am
Book tickets
Go global on the dancefloor
Not every club night sticks Māori beats, dancehall, Afrobeat, bass music and drag performances in the same room, but this one does. Mauritius-born club might Vwayaz is bringing New Zealand DJ Lady Shaka to seafront club Quarters for a genre-hopping night alongside Brighton favourites Polyglamorous and Tara (founder of Queer Girls Love Bashment). So if you’re after something that swerves the usual house and D&B formula, this might just be it. And the club’s also running a 50-percent-off deal at the moment (enter code ‘VWAYAZ123’ at checkout) for a limited time, so there’s even more reason to get on it.
Sat; 11am – 4pm; £8.10
Book tickets
SUNDAY
Make a felt masterpiece
If your walls are crying out for something a bit more personal than an Ikea print, this one’s for you. Learn the art of needle felting and create your own framed wool artwork in a relaxed workshop at Pink Moon (they of excellent dumplings and Friday’s £1 coffee). All the materials are provided and you don’t need any experience either – just a steady hand and a willingness to stab fluffy wool with tiny needles for a couple of hours.
Sun; 10am; £11.55
Book tickets
Sing the Sunday scaries away
The weekend’s nearly over, so you might as well end it with a power ballad. Bar Broadway’s Sunday karaoke is open to everyone, whether you’ve got the voice of Whitney or simply the confidence of someone three drinks in. Your ticket also includes a complimentary glass of prosecco, which definitely helps with those high notes.
Sun; 8pm; £6.13
Book tickets
Taste six beers from a cult brewery
Fancy discovering some beers you’ve never tried before? Then head to The Drop in The Open Market (now in a bigger spot at the market with heaps more seating). Their latest guided tasting is shining a spotlight on Swedish brewery Omnipollo, known for pushing the boundaries with everything from juicy IPAs to outrageously decadent stouts. You’ll sample six beers while resident beer expert and certified cicerone Dech talks you through what makes each one special.
Sun; 1pm; £27.80
Book tickets
GET OUTTA TOWN
Spend the weekend drinking unusual pours
Not every craft beer festival comes with a side of stately home, Morris dancers and “beautifully strange Sussex folk rituals”. But These Hills does and we reckon it’s all the better for it. Beak Brewery’s intimate festival is back at Glynde Place this Saturday and Sunday, bringing together more than 40 of the world’s best breweries, wineries and cider makers for a weekend that feels just as much summer festival as beer event.
Sat 8th and Sun 9th; various times; from £27.50
Book tickets
