Brighton Festival marks its 60th
By: Becky French
Last updated: Friday, 27 February 2026
The city’s annual celebration of the arts returns from 1–25 May 2026. Once again, the University of Sussex is at the heart of the festival as its official Higher Education Partner.
Brighton Festival is the largest annual curated multi-arts festival in England, bringing a vibrant mix of music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film, literature and debate to communities and venues across the city.
Festival of Ideas
Look out for the Festival of Ideas: a dynamic programme of events, talks and activities from the Faculty of Media, Arts and Humanities. Now in its fifth year as part of the official Brighton Festival programme, it continues to connect students, academics and the community – harnessing the transformative power of the arts and humanities and their potential for fashioning new ways to think about the past, present and future.
This year’s Festival of Ideas spans everything from magicians to machines. Enter a world of magic, question what AI and the Arts could mean for our creative future, try Planting Seeds – a game that offers food for thought, join zine-makers for a hands-on workshop on self-representation, or step into creative spaces where people share personal stories and connect.
Our 2026 line-up
Each event features University of Sussex academics, students or researchers, inviting audiences from across the city to explore big ideas.
Planting Seeds: A Game to Imagine Our Future Food Production Can games, storytelling, and creative collaboration help us imagine better futures for farming, nature, and everyday life in Brighton and the South East? Drawing on University of Sussex research – and leaving plenty of room for the unexpected! – we’ll explore regenerative futures together. All welcome.
10 May | 12:30pm - 3:30pm | Dice Saloon | From £10
What We Talk About When We Talk About Magic Are magicians really doing magic? In this original performance sharing and Q&A, sleight of hand artist Vincent Gambini will present new material from his current project on theatre and magic. The event will feature a special Q&A, in which we will try and answer the question: what do we talk about when we talk about magic?
15 May | 6pm - 7.30pm | Jane Attenborough Studio, ACCA | From £10
AI and the Arts: What Does this Mean For Our Creative Future? Join a Long Table dinnerparty on AI in the arts, where artists, academics and the public gather around a communal table to digest how GenAI transforms artistic practice, the role of the artist, and democratises knowledge and the costs of delivery.
19 May | 5.30pm - 7pm | Globe Room, Projects Nile House | From £10
Making Meaning: A Creative Space for Hysterectomy Stories This creative workshop brings together craft and conversation to open up a subject that is rarely discussed: hysterectomy. While the procedure is relatively common, its impact often remains hidden. Led by Dr Jill Kirby and Dr Ali Ramsey, this event uses craft as a tool to share stories, challenge myths, and create a safe, supportive space for dialogue.
23 May | 2pm - 4pm | The Beach House, Yellowave | From £10
Queering the Archive: Who Gets To Tell Our Stories? Join zine-makers and archivists for a dynamic and hands-on workshop that brings grassroots creativity into conversation with an archive. This session invites you to reimagine who gets to record history–and why it’s important we do it together, within community.
24 May | 2pm - 4.30pm | Teaching Room, University of Sussex Library | From £5
Student-led events
In the run-up to Brighton Festival, there will be a week of on-campus student-led Festival of Ideas activities in March. Don’t miss the student photography exhibition; creative workshops and discussions centring neurodiversity; a care-led workshop exploring disability and “bed stories”; and a panel on racial justice and belonging, followed by an evening showcase of student performance.
March 2026 |Free | Book your place
Staff ticket offers
As Sussex is part of Brighton Festival, staff and students get unique access to the programme. Look out for ticket offers – we’ll be running prize draws to win free tickets and sharing ticket discount codes.
Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts
Our campus arts hub will also be hosting three more events, including theatrical extravaganza Mr Blackpool (co-presented with Marlborough Productions), Bollywood-inspired epic Second Trimester, and Design for Nature and Community (Will Nash in conversation with Professor Alice Eldridge), exploring the vision behind Sussex’s forthcoming West Slope Public Art Commission.