Forget the Pier and the Lanes. This is a locals’ weekend: a citywide photography festival, a packed gig schedule across the city’s small venues and a few pubs worth staying in once the evenings turn cold. Here’s what’s on across Brighton & Hove from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 October.
Art: Photoworks Takes Over the City
The Photoworks Festival runs until 1 November. It is the best reason this month to visit galleries you’d normally walk past. Its theme is Un/Stable Lands, Anxieties, Dreams, and it’s spread across the city: Tessa Boffin’s archive show at Phoenix Art Space and Pseudomorphs and Fighting Fish in the basement of the Regency Town House in Hove both close on 18 October, so go this weekend. Jubilee Library and the University of Brighton galleries on Grand Parade are also hosting exhibitions, and they’re easy to fit in between errands.
At Brighton Museum, The Biba Look has just opened. It brings together Barbara Hulanicki’s photographs and original mail-order clothes. It’s well worth seeing alongside Where Are All the Lesbians?, a sharp exhibition on Brighton’s hidden queer history. If you’ve lived here for years and never visited the museum’s new Albion gallery, Stand or Fall, now is a good time.
Friday Night: Ghosts and Guitars
Preston Manor’s Ghostly Gatherings run on Friday night. These evening tours take you through the house’s dark corridors and servants’ quarters, and they sell out every October.
For music, The Amazons play Chalk, the night’s biggest show. Smaller options include Josephine Foster at The Old Market, the Reading rockers Harker at the Prince Albert, and the free jungle and breaks night Grassroots at Patterns. Jazz fans should go to the Verdict, where Zoe Rahman performs her Hull Suite.
Saturday: Something for Everyone
Saturday is the busiest night. The Wolfgang Press, a cult 4AD band, play the Green Door Store. DeVotchKa play Chalk, and Blood Wizard are at Hope & Ruin. If you want to support a grassroots venue, The Pipeline has Alicia F. The Pipeline was saved through community ownership this year, so every ticket helps.
The Brighton Early Music Festival is under way. Its clubnight at The Rose Hill is one of the more unusual nights out in the city. For theatre, LUNG’s hard-hitting verbatim piece Woodhill finishes its run at the Corn Exchange on Saturday, with tickets from £10.
Sunday: Slow Down
Have a long lunch, then choose your mood. Brighton Big Band play The Brunswick in Hove, and later there’s a flamenco night with Peña Flamenco Brighton. Elanor Moss plays a quiet set at The Folklore Rooms. Komedia has LSD and the Search for God, and Brighton Dome hosts The Stravinsky Connection. For more ideas, see what else is on at Komedia this month.
Where to Drink
Skip the seafront chains. The Basketmakers Arms in North Laine is still the best pub in the city for a cosy afternoon, with its walls of old tins full of notes from drinkers. The Evening Star, near the station, is the place for real ale. In Kemptown, the tiny Hand in Hand is worth squeezing into, and the Mitre Tavern on Baker Street serves Harvey’s at sensible prices. In Hove, the Lion & Lobster is a reliable choice for a Sunday roast that turns into an evening.
Brighton Local Angle
The weekend shows what makes Brighton’s culture work: dozens of small venues and galleries that rely on local audiences, not tourists. With rents and energy bills rising and LGBTQ+ venues closing, the best way to keep these places open is to keep going to them. Buy a ticket for a band you’ve never heard of, have one more pint at your local and pick up something from Resident Music while you’re in town.
Related Reading
- Brighton’s Grassroots Music Scene Gets Boost as The Pipeline Secured Through Community Ownership
- Echo & The Bunnymen Bring Back Their Iconic Sound
- Brighton This Weekend: Fat White Family, a Free Food Festival and the City’s Best Roasts
