Stay at home entertainment
The city’s official tourism arm, VisitBrighton has announced a new virtual festival, the Big BrightONline Weekender, which will be taking place online throughout the May Bank Holiday weekend, 8 – 10 May.
The event has launched amidst the cancellation of Brighton’s summer festivals calendar due to Covid-19.
Traditionally, May in the city is a celebratory month that signals the start of summer, with a number of leading arts, culture and music events - The Brighton Festival, Brighton Fringe, Artists Open House and the Great Escape – all usually take place, bringing an abundance of top class entertainment to residents and hundreds of thousands of visitors.
This year, with a huge culture-sized gap left by the cancellation of all live events and gatherings, VisitBrighton has curated a selection of the best events, performances and shows for residents and visitors to enjoy from the comfort of their own homes.
The line-up
The event features an impressive schedule including live laughs from the Krater Comedy Club at Komedia, Brighton Fringe’s Roaring 2020 Speakeasy, Drag Festival from Club Revenge, and a live turtle feeding at Brighton’s Sea Life, plus many more set to join the stellar line-up.
The weekender will be promoted via VisitBrighton’s social media channels where viewers will be directed to the different acts’ channels to enjoy a whole host of events.
Councillor Alan Robins, chair of Tourism, Equalities, Culture & Communities, said: “We know this is a difficult time for our performers and creative industries and it’s amazing to see how they’ve adapted their shows to meet the challenges of lockdown and keep us entertained.
‘’This is an impressive line-up with something for everyone to enjoy. We are so lucky to have such a range of talent in Brighton & Hove and it’s a bitter-sweet reminder of what we’re missing in our May festival month.
‘’I know we are all looking forward to the time we can be out in the city to enjoy these events together but until then, this is a very welcome treat!’’
Tune in
The Big BrightONline Weekender will be shared across VisitBrighton’s social media channels from 8-10 May.
For more details, see: www.visitbrighton.com/whats-on/big-brightonline-weekender-p1833721
Facebook event page: www.facebook.com/events/1438477979665503/
Instagram www.instagram.com/visit.brighton/
Schedule
Friday 9 May
- 11am - Emily Gravett Q&A with Book Nook Live www.facebook.com/Booknookhove
- 12 noon - 1pm - Lunchtime Recital www.facebook.com/brightonunitarian
- 2pm - 9pm Virtual PatchFest www.facebook.com/events/238580264188672
- 8pm - 3am (overnight) Lockdown Acid House Party www.facebook.com/events/238520537228165
- 8.30pm - 10pm Komedia Live! www.youtube.com/channel/UCGJEsKcTVNM32KViMzzzXTQ
- 9pm Hayley Ross www.facebook.com/HayleyRossMusician/
Saturday 9 May
- 2pm Brighton Fringe: Roaring 2020 Speakeasy https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88966315509
- 3pm - 5pm Brighton Fringe: Drag Brunch Live www.facebook.com/alfie.ordinary.9
- 4pm - 6pm Brighton Fringe: Ross Drummond & Harry Monaghan twitch.tv/rossdrummond
- 8pm - 10pm Revenge: Virtual Drag Festival www.facebook.com/RevengeBrighton/
- 10pm Sam Lee: Singing With Nightingales at Home, Live Audio Broadcast featuring acclaimed poet, Lemn Sissay www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tSl0OvFVWs&feature=emb_title (event is part of Brighton Festival at Home, in partnership with Nest Collective)
Sunday 10 May
- 11am Sea Life: Turtle Feeding www.facebook.com/sealifebrighton
- 4pm - 4.30pm Femigami - Feminist Origami making! www.facebook.com/events/s/femigami-feminist-origami-maki/666080867297090/
- 5pm - 6pm Charleston Festival: 200th anniversary of Anne Brontë’s birthhttps://myvlf.com/
- 7.30pm-10:30pm Cabaret Lab Lockdown 4: Don't Visit Brighton! https://www.facebook.com/events/265708498142411/
For more Brighton & Hove events, activities and attractions, go to www.visitbrighton.com
