On Saturday 2 May, Brighton & Hove’s streets will light up with colour in the 40th edition of the annual Children’s Parade. Over 2500 children and teachers will take to the streets, displaying their creative parade floats and performing live samba band music. Join us for a technicolour celebration of this year’s parade theme: Read All About It!
We’re also celebrating 10 years of Our Place: a celebration of creativity working in partnership with local communities across Brighton & Hove. We’re celebrating with a day of Arts & Crafts workshops for all the family on Sunday 3 May. Taking place at Brighton Dome, children and their grown-ups can make hand-operated mechanical models using junk materials; design a dream home or experiment with photography. And join us for a packed-out free Family Fun Dayv on 4 May, featuring a line-up of fun and engaging drop-in workshops for all ages including badge making, clay modelling, collage and shadow puppets.
Get ready to rhyme, rap and roar with laughter withMichael Rosen & MC Grammar: Ridiculous Raps & Rhymes. The former Children’s Laureate is teaming up with the award-winning rapping teacher & World Book Day ambassador on Sun 3 May for a high-energy, laugh-filled musical celebration of words for all ages.
Our theatre programme begins on 1 May with our very first Brighton Festival production: Kohlhaas. Adapted from a nineteenth century novella, Kohlhaas tells the story of one man’s fight for justice, with violent and far-reaching consequences, and has been developed specially for Brighton Dome’s refurbished Corn Exchange. Bold and compelling, Kohlhaas asks what justice looks like when systems are broken — and how far is too far?
At Black Rock, circus, live music and bold cinematic imagery come togetherin carnation: a brand-newproduction from leading UK circus company NoFit State and award-winning director Firenza Guidi. Opening 2 May and running throughout the Festival, carnation has its world premiereat this year’s Brighton Festival. Blending humour, heart and real risk, carnation dives headfirst into rebellion, resistance and hope in turbulent times, channelling twentieth century dystopian fiction to speak clearly to the world we’re living in now.
In Anita’s Room at Brighton Dome, performance artists Klanghaus bring two unique shows to Brighton Festival (opening 2 May). Part gig, part installation, part dream, Last Haus on Earth unites the raw energy of The Neutrinos’ live music with enthralling and evocative visuals. Emotional and thought-provoking, multi-sensory installation Darkroomadmits just six audience members at a time and is held in complete darkness for a truly unforgettable experience.
Opening the contemporary music programme on 1 May, legendary singer, composer and trans elder Beverly Glenn-Copeland performs from his brand-new album Laughter in Summer at Brighton Dome Concert Hall. Blending soft, folky melodies with gentle electronic sounds to create transcendental, almost spiritual musical experiences, he will be joined for the performance by members of queer led ensemble F*Choir.
On 2 May, a new generation of boundary-pushing artists, including Planningtorock, Tom Rasmussen and Bishi, bring fresh perspectives to Bronski Beat’s era defining record, The Age of Consent, backed by a specially curated queer house band. Experience this piece of musical and political history from 1980s Britain as you’ve never heard it before, at Brighton Dome’s Concert Hall.
And in Brighton Dome’s Studio Theatre: explore new sounds from outstanding musicians. From KNEEBODY’s genre-defying jazz to the high-energy electronics of AK/DK and Danalogue and the exhilarating and dynamic fusion beats of One World Orchestra, dive into the best of contemporary music in this intimate setting.
For classical music fans, on 3 May leading string groups Chiaroscuro Quartet and Consone Quartet unite for a one-off performance at Glyndebourne Opera House, performing pieces by Haydn, Mozart and Mendelssohn. Brighton Dome’s magnificent Concert Hall hosts a striking staging of Bach’s St John Passion on 4 May in a Brighton Festival Exclusive. Britten Sinfonia and an international cast of young international soloists from William Christie’s Les Arts Florissants and Le Jardin des Voix perform with Brighton Festival Chorus and Youth Choir, singing from memory while moving through the auditorium to dissolve boundaries between performers and audience.
Discover extraordinary free artworks throughout the city this May. Brighton Festival commission Soft Machines opens on Hove Promenade this weekend (Sat 2–Sun 24 May). Created by Ivan Morison and his long-term collaborator Heather Peak, Soft Machines explores the bodies that make a city, and the plurality of love, intimacy and desire between them.
In Newhaven, artists Abigail Norris and Isobel Smith present Shhh... (Sat 2–Sun 31 May, BN9 Studio, Marine Workshops). Over two years, the artists met weekly to listen, encourage and witness each other’s practice. The result is Shhh…: a series of works that inhabit silence as a charged condition rather than an absence.
At Phoenix Art Space: artist duo Antonio Jose Guzman and Iva Jankovic present A Timeline of Infinite Skies(Sat 2 May–Sun 28 Jun). Featuring their their trademark indigo-dyed patterned textiles, the installation reflects on intertwined histories of wealth, empire and cultural memory by highlighting Brighton and Hove’s largely hidden or forgotten legacies resulting from the forced migration of enslaved people.
And don’t miss Adelaide Salon’s Founders Room Exhibition Space (Sat 2–Mon 25 May). Set within the Brighton Dome Foyer, the exhibition is exclusively available to Brighton Festival ticket holders and festival-goers, and offers an important addition to Brighton's visual art landscape and a platform for a future programme.
Build your perfect May Bank Holiday weekend at Brighton Festival.
Brighton Festival 2026 is indebted to the steadfast support of funders Brighton & Hove City Council and Arts Council England; Principal Supporter The Pebble Trust; Major Sponsor Mayo Wynne Baxter; Higher Education Partner University of Sussex; and all sponsors, patrons, members and supporters.
Kohlhaas is supported by Louise and Jamie Arnell. The Children’s Parade is supported by Brighton Girls and Jumpin Fun. Soft Machines is supported by the Henry Moore Foundation. Chiaroscuro and Consone Quartets are supported by Margaret Polmear. Our Place is supported by Pembroke. Ridiculous Raps & Rhymes with Michael Rosen & MC Grammar is supported by Brighton College Prep School. London Symphony Orchestra is supported by Professor David Gann CBE FREng.