Navigating May The Brighton Girl Way.
May in Brighton is not just a month. It’s a colourful celebration of culture, community, and the eclectic unique charm that only our seaside gem can offer. We’ve got the Brighton Festival, Brighton Fringe, Artists Open Houses, The Spiegeltent, Foodies Festival, The Great Escape and the not-affiliated-to-any-festival events bursting through the city.
Winter coats are replaced with denim jackets. Sunglasses get bolder. Every weeknight is a Thursday night. Glitter is scrubbed from faces in workplace bathrooms. Pockets are filled with folded flyers. The soundtrack of the seafront switches from crashing winter waves to buskers, chatter and bar beats.
But there’s another side to May that we don’t usually reflect on until it’s over. It’ll rain, it’ll be colder than we think, and it’ll stir up FOMO. You’ll have moments where you wish you went to more shows, watched more sunsets and went out with your glitter covered friends the night before. You’ll find others feeling exactly the same in Brighton Girl.
You’ll also find our Brighton Girl Guide to May, helping you to navigate through the events, festivals and performances taking place across the month. Some organised by Brighton Girls, some simply a strong recommendation. All in chronological order.
You could spend your Early May Bank Holiday weekend in Violet’s Vaudeville Vault at the Walrus, gaining a PhD in Cliteracy at The Rotunda Theatre, watching the WSL with Gals At The Game at King and Queens, meandering through Artists Open Houses, partying at Shelter Hall, the Foodies Festival and far more.
Every weekend will follow a wild scheduling suit – most weekdays, too. The Great Escape Festival Weekend, a multi-venue showcase of the best new artists from 15th to 18th May, is the wildest of the lot. Every music venue is packed with leather jackets and lanyards, whilst the escapades of cabaret, comedy and wild ideas from the Festival and Fringe plays louder than ever. The Spiegeltent is a mix of music dealmakers, glitter stations, and shows like ‘It Comes Out Of Your Bum’ by Anna Soden.
The secret to May in Brighton is embracing the fact that everyone will have a different experience. You can’t go to everything – and, trust me, you don’t want to. But you can shape the month to fit you, with hundreds of opportunities to step out of your comfort zone. Discover Brighton and Brighton Girl can help you with that.
Words by Pippa Moyle / Photo: The Brytz Sisters
