Audience Club at Brighton Festival 2025
It was our pleasure to welcome Audience Club members to this year’s Festival.
Audience Club is a scheme that provides free tickets to Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival events to people in the Our Place communities of Hangleton & Knoll, East Brighton and Moulsecoomb & Bevendean who may otherwise face barriers to coming to live theatre. We offer tickets to a range of events across the year, including family shows, theatre, dance and music, plus an ice cream or drinks voucher and a friendly, personalised welcome from a Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival staff member on arrival. We also offer free bus tickets to those who need assistance with travel costs, with support from Brighton & Hove Buses.
At this year’s Festival, young people from Hangleton & Knoll came to see Australian company Circa’s electrifying mix of circus and contemporary dance, Humans 2.0 at Theatre Royal. Youth Work Manager at the Hangleton & Knoll Project, Helen Baxter said:
“Thank you for organising this wonderful opportunity for our young members. Some of them had never been to the Theatre Royal before and were amazed and wowed by the show. These enriching experiences make a difference to the lives of young people who, for many reasons, would never be able to access them without your generosity and our collaboration.”
We also welcomed members of the Hangleton & Knoll community to see Indian classical musician Aditya Prakash’s one-man exploration of identity and tradition, ROOM-i-Nation at the Corn Exchange. Aleya Khatun, Equalities and Inclusion Community Development Worker at the Hangleton & Knoll project said:
“15 members of the multi-cultural men’s and women’s group really enjoyed ROOM-i-Nation at the Corn Exchange. By giving this opportunity it brought together both the groups and the show was something that they really felt connected to their roots and heritage and were quite emotional. Thank you once again for giving the multi-cultural groups the opportunity.”
Our Place was initiated by Kae Tempest when they were Guest Director of Brighton Festival in 2017, to take the Festival into the heart of the communities at the edge of the city. Over the years since, it has grown into a year-round creative arts programme co-produced with local community members, who volunteer to run the steering committees and work with us to put on activities in their local area.
Their knowledge and experience of local communities and networks also makes them best placed to identify and contact Audience Club attendees, so huge thanks to the Our Place steering committees of Hangleton & Knoll, Moulsecoomb & Bevendean and East Brighton – they do an amazing job of coordinating these event trips.
We look forward to welcoming Audience Club to Brighton Festival 2026!