Thousands of people have enjoyed hundreds of events, performances and installations as the festival returned to a full-scale programme for the first time since 2019.
Within the huge programme – making it England’s largest curated multi-arts festival – there were 150 events, exhibitions and installations; 36 of which were free and 101 performances offered tickets at £10 per less. There were 26 events or installations held outdoors, with 124 taking place indoors across multiple venues and 10 were available online.
Andrew Comben, chief executive of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival said: “It has been absolutely fantastic to see this year’s Festival return to the scale and ambition for which Brighton Festival is known.
"Our guest co-directors Marwa Al-Sabouni and Tristan Sharps helped inspire a programme of extraordinary richness, built around their chosen theme of Rebuilding, and we‘ve been thrilled to share these experiences with audiences across the city and beyond. Thanks to the ongoing support from funders Brighton & Hove City Council, Arts Council England and DCMS’s Cultural Recovery Fund, along with major sponsors, supporters and our audiences, we remain committed to playing our full role in Rebuilding the confidence and cohesion of communities through arts and culture.”
Scroll through our gallery below as take a look back at some of the highlights of the three-week long celebration of the arts across the city of Brighton & Hove and beyond.
5. Week one:
The world premiere of dreamthinkspeak’s Unchain Me saw this immersive walkabout theatrical experience sell out in record time and, due to public demand, extend its run until June 12. The show, inspired by Dostoyevsky’s novel, The Possessed, weaved its way through the streets and buildings of central Brighton, plunging audiences into the midst of a secret underground cell at the centre of a public uprising Photo: Brighton Festival
6. Week one:
Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey’s Witness Stand installations popped up across the city and beyond with bespoke viewing platforms at Shoreham, The Chattri, Brighton Marina, East Brighton and the West Pier. Local writers and sound artists provided words and soundscapes in response to the different locations and audiences were invited to sit and listen together, contemplating vistas that we rarely pause to see Photo: Helen James
7. Week one:
One of the Festival’s many musical highlights saw The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians come to Brighton Dome for a celebration of Syrian culture featuring beautiful strings, contagious rhythms, and soaring vocals Photo: Jamie MacMillan
8. Week two:
It was a packed week two with a sold-out talk from 2021 Nobel Prize winner for Literature Abdulrazak Gurnah at Charleston, a surrealist VR experience entitled Eva Quantica and the London Symphony Orchestra coming to town. For the younger Festival goers CBBC stars Andy and the Odd Socks were a huge treat at Brighton Dome with many audience members experiencing their first ever gig Photo: Chloe Hashemi