60th Brighton Festival programme is announced

The multi-arts line-up will feature more than 100 events from over 140 artists spanning theatre, dance, music, literature, visual art and debate.

It will feature five world premieres including Kohlhaas directed by Omar Elerian and starring Arinzé Kene – the first original work to be produced and commissioned by Brighton Festival.

Festival commissions will include a large-scale public artwork where monumental figures will appear along the Hove seafront in Ivan Morison and Heather Peak’s love letter to the city.

Festival exclusives include a one-off performance from Patti Smith, the first-ever collaboration between Sampa the Great and W.I.T.C.H. Other artists presenting work in this landmark festival year are Laurie Anderson, Beverly-Glenn Copeland, Fevered Sleep, Clod Ensemble, Nu Civilisation Orchestra, Akram Khan, Emma Rice Company, NoFitState, Sir Antonio Pappano, Angelique Kidjo, Iestyn Davies, William Kenridge, Michael Rosen, Aldous Harding, Joelle Taylor, Harriet Walter, Asian Dub Foundation, Antonio Guzman & Iva Jankovic, Isobel Smith and Abigail Norris.

The programme will also see Brighton Dome's Corn Exchange host world-class artists who will reimagine the beautifully restored space with a series of unique theatrical experiences.

2026 will also mark the 40th Children’s Parade, the largest parade of its kind in Europe, and the 10th Our Place, Brighton Festival’s community curated programming strand.

This year’s festival will be the first under the artistic leadership of new chief executive Lucy Davies. After sixteen years operating a guest director model, Brighton Festival will be curated by the festival programming team led by Lucy with producing director Beth Burgess. This new model enables the festival to begin producing original work for the very first time.

Opening this year’s programme is the world premiere of Kohlhaas (1-5 May), the first original work to be produced by Brighton Festival. Directed by Omar Elerian (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Rhinoceros, Misty) and starring Arinzé Kene (Misty, Girl From The North Country, Get Up Stand Up) in their first collaboration since Misty, this bold and contemporary adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist’s novella Michael Kohlhaas delves into the psychology of protest and resistance.

The Corn Exchange programme will also feature a five-hour durational performance by twelve local children and one adult percussionist in Fevered Sleep’s Time Keeps The Drummer (8-10 May); Clod Ensemble and Nu Civilisation Orchestra’s live dance celebration of Charles Mingus’ seminal album The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (16-17 May); and fix+foxy’s brutal, immersive, reimagining of the birth of modern America performed by a South African cast, Dark Noon (21-24 May).

Live-art company KlangHaus will present two site-responsive, immersive experiences (2-23 May, Anita’s Room) which will blend moving images, live music, light, sound-design and staging. Last Haus on Earth dismantles the barriers between performers and audiences in an audio-visual sensorial storm, whilst in Darkroom audiences of six are plunged into darkness in a visceral response to climate change.

Beyond Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, the Festival’s performance programme includes the world premiere of NoFit State’s carnation: the revolution is coming and I have nothing to wear (2-25 May, Black Rock), combining world-class circus, live music and bold cinematic imagery to explore rebellion, resistance and hope in turbulent times; the return of the Emma Rice Company with a revival of their hit Malory Towers (19-23 May, Theatre Royal Brighton) and the final touring production from The Akram Khan Company, Thikra: Night of Remembering (23-24 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall).

Land art, visual art and social sculpture collide in the world premiere of Soft Machines (2-24 May), a major new commission by Brighton-based artist Ivan Morison and his long-term collaborator Heather Peak. Made from agricultural materials, monumental embodied forms will appear on Hove Promenade in this large-scale artwork – a love letter to Brighton, the city where Morrison and Peak first met and trained.

The visual art line-up also includes the world premiere of Shhh… by Abigail Norris and Isobel Smith (2-31 May, Marine Workshops, Newhaven), which explores silence as a charged force, and an immersive installation and soundscape by artist duo Antonio Jose Guzman and Iva Jankovic A Timeline of Infinite Skies (2 May-28 June, Phoenix Art Space) which reflects on Brighton and Hove’s largely hidden or forgotten legacies resulting from the forced migration of enslaved people.

Global music icons, exclusive collaborations and one-off concerts from critically acclaimed artists, orchestras and ensembles characterise the music programme for Brighton Festival 2026.

Patti Smith returns to Brighton Festival for a two-night residency, performing with her long-time collaborators as The Patti Smith Quartet (12 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall). In addition, Smith will present an exclusive event for Brighton Festival, An Evening of Words and Music (13 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall).

In a UK exclusive especially for the festival’s 60th edition, pioneering multimedia artist and previous Brighton Festival guest director Laurie Anderson presents The Republic of Love (6 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall).

The contemporary music line-up also features an exclusive one-off collaboration between groundbreaking artist Sampa The Great and Zamrock pioneers W.I.T.C.H. who will join forces for a night of psychedelic rock, hip-hop and soul, celebrating music born from independence, resilience and creative freedom (9 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall); singer, composer and transgender activist Beverly Glenn-Copeland will perform his unique blend of folk, jazz, classical and electronic music at the festival (1 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall); Angélique Kidjo will bring her striking voice and stage presence as part of the Hope Tour (16 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall); a celebration of cult movie La Haine (7 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall) with a live soundtrack by Asian Dub Foundation; and musicians from 16 countries come together as part of One World Orchestra (1 May, Brighton Dome Studio Theatre) where ancient instruments meet contemporary beats.

In the classical programme, a bold new staging of Bach’s St John Passion (4 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall) will take place throughout the Brighton Dome Concert Hall auditorium bringing together the artistry of the Britten Sinfonia, young soloists from Les Arts Florissants, the Brighton Festival Chorus and Youth Choir; Dame Harriet Walter reads from her new book She Speaks! (10 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall) in which she imagines what some of Shakespeare’s most intriguing female characters would have said, whilst soprano Sophie Bevan and pianist Christopher Glynn explore how these same women have inspired composers down the ages; countertenor Iestyn Davies and harpist Oliver Wass (20 May, Royal Pavilion Music Room) will span 400 years of music from Monteverdi to Anna Meredith in a single concert; international star pianist Denis Kozhukhin performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with The London Symphony Orchestra under Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano (8 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall); and the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra performs Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, set to William Kentridge’s animated film Oh To Believe in Another World (17 May, Brighton Dome Concert Hall).

In the literature programme, Joelle Taylor performs a staged reading of her new poetry collection Maryville (8-9 May, Brighton Dome Studio Theatre); a searing, poetic excavation of 50 years of lesbian counterculture, directed by Neil Bartlett with visuals from artist and filmmaker Sweatmother. Taylor will also join award-winning writer Yomi Ṣode and a host of exciting local talent for the return of STATUS FLO (18 May, Brighton Dome Corn Exchange), curated and hosted by AFLO. the poet.

Tickets for Brighton Festival 2026 will go on sale to members on February 19 and on general sale February 26.