Top 10 Annual Events in Brighton

more than a year ago

What are the biggest events on the Brighton party calendar? The most exciting Pride festival in the UK and a host of music extravaganzas steal the limelight, but don’t overlook the the sport, the science, the comedy and the kites. The answer to that initial question can be found below.

Sussex Beer Festival (Mar)

Brighton Racecourse is the venue for one of the best beer and cider festivals in England, as more than 150 brewers come together to provide the thirsty thousands with some seriously good plonk. The food selection is pretty excellent too.

Brighton Fringe (May)

All things chucklesome are embraced at Brighton Fringe, a month-long arts festival that takes place in May. This is the largest open-access arts festival in England, a veritable buffet of creativity and artistic excitement.

Brighton Festival (May)

Brighton Festival takes place across the entire month of May and is a celebration of all the arts, from live music to theatre via dance, art and plenty more. The festival has been running for more than half a century and continues to stand tall as a celebration of creativity and inventiveness.

The Great Escape (May)

A three-day festival that takes place every May, The Great Escape has grown from humble beginnings into one of the UK’s most beloved musical extravaganzas. More than 300 bands wow crowds at around 30 venues across the city, with past acts including Django Django, Stormzy, Frank Turner and IYP favourites And So I Watch You From Afar and Future of the Left.

Naked Bike Ride (Jun)

This protestival isn’t ironically named, there are no jokes, this is not a test. The Naked Bike Ride is, yes, exactly that — a big naked bike ride around Brighton. Get in touch with the organisers if you’re interested in riding in your birthday suit, although we can only imagine the damage it does to certain sensitive areas.

Brighton Kite Festival (Jul)

There are few sights as instantly nostalgic as that of a colourful kite flying high above the beach. Brighton Kite Festival is this on steroids, as masses of the things are found above Stanmer Park in the city. This might be Brighton’s most colourful festival, which is some going when you take into account the UK’s largest Pride festival.

Paddle Round The Pier (Jul)

Paddle, paddle, paddle. The clue is in the name with this one, as thousands of daring fools make the most of the English summer and take to the sea armed only with a paddle and board, in a desperate attempt to paddle as though their lives depended on it. It is a whole heap of fun.

March of the Mermaids (Jul)

Have you ever seen hundreds of mermaids follow each other into the sea, mimicking lemmings with long hair and glitter? No? You haven’t lived! The March of the Mermaids takes place in Brighton every July. Get yourself there.

Brighton Pride (Aug)

The UK’s biggest Pride Festival takes place in Brighton every August, and the city certainly lives up to its reputation as the LGBTQ capital of the United Kingdom. This is not your average Pride festival, far from it, as hundreds of thousands of people descend on the city for the parties, the live music, the workshops and the rest.

Burning the Clocks (Dec)

Not literally. Burning the Clocks is the winter solstice, Brighton style, and it takes place through the centre of the city. The whole culminates with a massive lantern bonfire on the seafront, a big middle finger to the excessive commercialism of Christmases past and future. It takes place every year on December 21.

Brighton