Enjoy a whale of a time at Whalefest

Whale watch

Opened by Gok Wan (award-winning TV presenter), featuring Steve Backshall (BBC Deadly 60) and closed by Miranda Krestovnikoff (BBC Coast and One Show), WhaleFest 2014 is the world’s largest celebration of wild whales and dolphins.

It’s for people who love whales and dolphins, those who know nothing about them, me, you, your kids, your gym instructor, everyone. The event also features some of the world’s leading experts on whales and dolphins, including Dr Ingrid Visser ‘BBC The Woman Who Swims With Killer Whales’, Sam Berg former SeaWorld trainer who features in the award-winning movie ‘BlackFish’, actress Virginia McKenna OBE, and Dr Barbara Maas who fights for the world’s last 50 Maui’s dolphins.

The event launch day of Friday 14 March sees a life-sized Killer Whale make its way through the city before being ‘released’ back into the sea; highlighting the plight of the 50 or so Killer Whales currently suffering in tiny tanks where they perform ‘circus acts’ for the public in marine parks. As the event draws near we will quite literally be able to rub shoulders with giants, as enormous whale murals, exhibitions, gigs and other whaley activities spring up all over town!

WhaleFest takes place on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th March in the exhibition rooms of the Hilton Metropole Hotel. Here, thousands of people will come face to face with life-sized whales, take virtual whale watching trips indoors, and immerse themselves in a 360° submarine. Passions will be stirred by live performances, films, prose, talks, comedy, exhibitions, music and inspiring activities for all ages. It attracts people from all over the world and we anticipate an audience of 10,000+ from over 40 countries. With an amazing festival Main Stage brought to you by Video Illusions – the team who worked with The Prodigy at the O2 and also the Glastonbury Main Stage – it’s going to be unmissable. Plus we screen a director’s cut of the award-winning movie ‘Blackfish’ – a movie that deals with the death of SeaWorld trainers and the need to end keeping these intelligent, emotional animals in captivity.

So why in Brighton? WhaleFest takes place at Brighton Hilton, the very place where the world’s governments gathered in 1982 to suspend international whaling. In 1991 Brighton Aquarium’s captive dolphins were freed back to their Caribbean home. The people of Brighton love these animals and have led the world in championing their cause.

Of course, deep down, we all love whales and dolphins. Each year over 20 million people spend $2.1 billion annually watching whales and dolphins, and ‘swimming with wild dolphins’ was the easy winner in the BBC’s ‘50 Things to do Before You Die’.

Come along to WhaleFest and be inspired to help a powerful cause. WhaleFest is a not-for-profit event, which raises funds for the World Cetacean Alliance (WCA). The WCA is the only global partnership of organisations working for whales and dolphins. With Jean-Michel Cousteau as Honorary President, the WCA has a focused strategy to end captive Killer Whale entertainment at marine parks He said: “Without collaboration we will achieve nothing more than a drop in the ocean. The World Cetacean Alliance is a unique opportunity to combine our collective energy, knowledge, and expertise in order to protect whales, dolphins, and their habitats.”

This third WhaleFest continues to create the world’s biggest marine festival, and one that will be held every year in Brighton. We hope you will be there and join us.