Programme unveiled for Brighton Digital Festival

The festival, in its seventh year, runs from September 14 to October 13 across venues in Brighton and Hove, celebrating the city's creativity, innovative digital economy, and its top-level arts scene, organisers said.

This year, for the first time, Brighton Digital Festival is holding its own in-house conference - The Messy Edge - which will explore the frontiers of digital culture.

The Messy Edge aims to 'challenge dominant perspectives and provide a space to think about how we run the risk, despite the opportunities that digital gives us, of building a future on the deeply flawed foundations of the present'.

The Dots conference will also return to the festival, featuring industry experts and inspiring outsiders on how to approach the challenge of thriving in turbulent times.

SheSays Brighton will also host an evening of networking with four inspiring speakers including Anjali Ramachandran, Laura Jordan Bambach, Jamila Prowse and Michelle Watson.

Virtual Reality (VR) is again one of Brighton Digital Festival’s most popular features. After it’s sell out run back in 2016 the vrLAB is back this year at The Old Market, to take you from the depths of the oceans to intergalactic space and every conceivable world in-between.

A new installation by Dominic Hawgood, co-commissioned by the British Science Festival, will also be on show as part of this year’s festival, as well as an exhibition from the shortlisted proposals for the Huxley Building’s public art commission.

In addition, global award for digital art, The Lumen Prize, will open a year long, touring exhibition of recent prize winners’ art for the final two weeks of the festival.

Laurence Hill, Brighton Digital Festival manager, said: “The festival programme for 2017 has the potential to be our biggest and most assorted range of events yet. It’s great to see the festival grow and evolve year on year with people from all communities are becoming a part of it.

“The way in which we engage with technology and the effect it has on our culture is one of the festival’s biggest themes this year. It’s a great way to explore all aspects of technology, and shine a light on the impact that technology could have on our world, both positive and negative."

To f ind out more about Brighton Digital Festival, visit: www.brightondigitalfestival.co.uk