Our Mission and Purpose
Together we can change, create, understand and grow Brighton Dome | Brighton Festival | Create Music
Situated in the Royal Pavilion Estate at the heart of the city, we are an arts charity, three historic contemporary live arts venues, a music education service across the region - Create Music - and the biggest curated cross-arts festival in England.
Our purpose is to enable extraordinary experiences where people can come together to enjoy, imagine, create and change.
Together we can change
Our vision is a world where artists are exploring their internationalism and a digital/physical hybrid future, where experience and understanding is shared across the globe and where all our actions are planet-positive.
Together we can create
Our vision is for Brighton and Sussex to be a place where creativity is seen as essential to life, a place of creative entrepreneurship, and a place of deep artistic collaboration.
Together we can understand
Our vision is for all of us, our visitors and residents to empathise with each other’s differences, to be open to new ideas, and to enjoy shared experiences.
Together we can grow
Our vision is an organisation that’s instinctively inclusive, with staff, volunteers, artists and supporters united by a shared purpose, and constantly developing.
Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival is a registered charity (Brighton Dome & Festival Ltd) number 249748.
Brighton Festival
Each year we produce Brighton Festival, the largest curated annual arts festival in England.
A celebration of music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film, literature, debate, outdoor and community events, Brighton Festival takes place in familiar and unusual locations across Brighton & Hove and further afield for three weeks every May.
Renowned for its pioneering spirit and experimental reputation, Brighton Festival has become one of the city’s most enduring symbols of inventiveness.
The inaugural programme in 1967 included Laurence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins, Yehudi Menuhin, The Who, The Pink Floyd, Concrete Poetry. So we have a long tradition for attracting the most exciting performers from across the globe, as well as promoting local artists, and bringing fresh, challenging work that opens minds right across Brighton & Hove and beyond.
Our ambitious and daring programming aims to make the most of the city’s distinctive cultural atmosphere, and draws some of the most innovative artists and companies from the UK and around the world.
Since 2009 we have welcomed a major cultural figure to guest curate and enhance the prestige of the artistic programme. Anish Kapoor, Brian Eno, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael Rosen, Hofesh Shechter, Ali Smith, Laurie Anderson, Kate Tempest, David Shrigley and Lemn Sissay have contributed significantly to our innovative programming as Guest Director.
Every year Brighton Festival is opened by the popular Children’s Parade. Produced in partnership with Same Sky, we work with over 5,000 parents, teachers and young people from 60 Brighton &Hove schools alongside artists, musicians and choreographers. The annual event is always a whirlwind of colour, music, dance and fun attracting over 20,000 to the streets to celebrate the creativity and imagination of our next generation.
Brighton Dome
As the south coast's premier multi-arts venue, each year we present over 600 events spanning music, theatre, dance, comedy, literature, spoken word, visual arts, film, digital, community and participatory events.
Our magnificent grade listed building situated in the heart of the city forms part of the Royal Pavilion Estate, and has been a shining beacon for the community for over 200 years. Starting as a grandiose riding stables for Prince Regent and transforming into many guises thereafter; from a place of protest and solidarity for Suffragettes, to a refuge for wartime dances in WWI, a temporary hospital in World War II and even a roller-skating venue.
Brighton Dome is an extraordinary space in which to bring the arts alive.
A hub for artists across the region, Brighton Dome commissions and supports both emerging and established artists and companies, enabling them to develop, take risks and deliver work of the highest quality. Read about our Associate Artists and Programme Partners.
Create Music
The third part of our arts portfolio is a strong music education service that teaches over 4k children and young people music across East and West Sussex. Music is paramount to young people. It energises and helps them explore their emotions, helping them feel connected and cope with difficult times. Young people tell us that they see music-making as an essential part of their lives - it makes them feel worthwhile. It is well documented that the creative process of making music has a deep and profound impact on well-being
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Our History
Brighton Festival Guest Directors
