Brighton Festival
Encyclopedia
The Brighton Festival is an annual arts festival
which takes place in the city of Brighton and Hove in England
each May. It was founded in 1966, and is the largest multi-art form festival in England. The 2006 festival organised over 200 events during 23 days which were attended by over 500,000 people.
The festival includes organised processions such as the Children's Parade, outdoor spectaculars often involving pyrotechnics, and a great deal of theatre, music, literature and visual arts in venues throughout the city, some of which are brought into this use exclusively for the festival.
One feature of the festival is the Artists Open House
concept, whereby artists and craftspeople literally open up their houses for the public to view or buy their work.
The Festival regularly commissions new work from companies such as DV8 Physical Theatre
; 2006's Festival included the world premiere of new work by Stomp
's Brighton-based creators, Yes/No Productions. It also encourages cross-fertilisation between different art forms, such as 2006's "Stories In Motion", a multimedia collaboration between Chuck Palahniuk
, Irvine Welsh
and Orbital
's Phil Hartnoll. also 2006's "Warp Moves", a collaboration between artists from Warp Records and dancers from Random Dance.
fulfilled the role, followed in 2010 by Brian Eno
and in 2011 by Aung San Suu Kyi
.
Arts festival
An arts festival is a festival that focuses on the visual arts in all its forms, but which may also focus on or include other arts.Arts festivals in the visual arts are exhibitions and are not to be confused with the commercial art fair. Artists participate in the most important of such festival...
which takes place in the city of Brighton and Hove in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
each May. It was founded in 1966, and is the largest multi-art form festival in England. The 2006 festival organised over 200 events during 23 days which were attended by over 500,000 people.
The festival includes organised processions such as the Children's Parade, outdoor spectaculars often involving pyrotechnics, and a great deal of theatre, music, literature and visual arts in venues throughout the city, some of which are brought into this use exclusively for the festival.
Artists Open House
An Artists Open House is a special example of an Open Studio whereby the studio is a residential venue, usually a house or a garden. The format of an Open House is very similar to an Open Studio, but the significantly lower cost of exhibiting in a residential venue than a studio or gallery provides...
concept, whereby artists and craftspeople literally open up their houses for the public to view or buy their work.
The Festival regularly commissions new work from companies such as DV8 Physical Theatre
DV8 Physical Theatre
DV8 Physical Theatre is a dance company based at Artsadmin in London, UK. It was founded in 1986 by an independent collective of chiefly modern dancers. It is led by Lloyd Newson, whose intent has been to have a different approach to most contemporary dance than other existing companies...
; 2006's Festival included the world premiere of new work by Stomp
Stomp
Stomp may refer to:*Stomp , a downwards kick using the heel*Stomp , a percussive physical theatre troupe*Stomp Records, a record label now part of Union Label Group*Stomp Entertainment, an Australian entertainment group...
's Brighton-based creators, Yes/No Productions. It also encourages cross-fertilisation between different art forms, such as 2006's "Stories In Motion", a multimedia collaboration between Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk
Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk is an American transgressional fiction novelist and freelance journalist. He is best known for the award-winning novel Fight Club, which was later made into a film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter...
, Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh is a contemporary Scottish novelist, best known for his novel Trainspotting. His work is characterised by raw Scottish dialect, and brutal depiction of the realities of Edinburgh life...
and Orbital
Orbital (band)
Orbital are a British electronic dance music duo from Sevenoaks, England consisting of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll. Their career initially ran from 1989 until 2004, but in 2009 they announced that they would be reforming and headlining The Big Chill, in addition to a number of other live shows...
's Phil Hartnoll. also 2006's "Warp Moves", a collaboration between artists from Warp Records and dancers from Random Dance.
Guest directors
Since 2009, the festival has featured guest artistic directors: in that year, Anish KapoorAnish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor CBE RA is a British sculptor of Indian birth. Born in Mumbai , Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design.He represented Britain in the XLIV Venice...
fulfilled the role, followed in 2010 by Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
and in 2011 by Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
.
See also
- Brighton Festival FringeBrighton Festival FringeThe Brighton Festival Fringe is an open access arts festival held annually in Brighton, England. It is the largest annual arts festival in England.- Introduction :...
. - Edinburgh FestivalEdinburgh FestivalThe Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
(the UK's largest arts festival). - Norfolk and Norwich FestivalNorfolk and Norwich FestivalNorfolk & Norwich Festival is an arts organisation based in Norwich, England which is primarily responsible for the eponymous international arts festival held in annually every May, with events also held throughout the wider county of Norfolk....
(The UK's oldest arts festival)
External links
- Brighton Festival – main festival official website.
- Brighton Festival Fringe – fringe festival official website.
- Artists Open Houses – website for separate element of the Brighton Festival.
- Brighton Festival Chorus – website for separate element of the Brighton Festival.
- Same Sky – arts organization, forms part of the Brighton Festival.
- Brighton Festival feature on Brighton information website View Brighton.
- Three Weeks featuring complete guides to both the Brighton Festival and Edinburgh FestivalEdinburgh FestivalThe Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
.