Brighton Festival: Outdoor Events

Year on year Brighton Festival’s programme of outdoor events sees the city take to the streets

Once again the Festival takes to the city’s streets and outdoor spaces for a wide range of performances that will provoke, entertain and excite audiences of all ages. Nothing proves the city’s love of and support for the arts better than when we get out there to enjoy the diverse menu of spectacular events. As ever there are plenty to choose from, many are free and all are sure to spark your imagination, fill you with awe, make you laugh out loud and even move you. Here are some tasty images to whet the appetite.

8 Songs
A huge hit at Brighton Festival 2012 with Smashed, Gandini Juggling makes a welcome return with a brand new show that promises to push the art of juggling to new heights, in true Gandini style.
Sun 3 May, 12 noon – 5pm, Woodingdean Central Park
Mon 4 May, 12 noon – 5pm, Saltdean Oval

451
Periplum and Corn Exchange Newbury
Inspired by Ray Bradbury’s visionary novel Fahrenheit 451, this incendiary outdoor performance recounts the story of a society in which books are banned and firemen are employed to burn them
Sat 16 May, 9.45pm
Preston Barracks
Free

Sam Lee’s Nightingale Walk
Nightingales are possibly the most delirious sonic commanders of the avian world. Join folk singer Sam Lee for a one-of-a-kind promenade performance out on the South Downs. Experience a spellbinding call-and-response collaboration between man and bird that you’ll never forget.
Wed 13, Thu 14, Fri 15, Tue 19,
Wed 20 & Thu 21 May, 9pm til late
£15

Romeo and Juliet
Globe Theatre on Tour
The new Brighton Open Air Theatre opens with Shakespeare’s immortal tale of star-crossed lovers
Wed 13 May, 6pm
Thu 14 May, 1.30
(Schools matinee) & 6pm,
Fri 15 May, 6pm
Sat 16 May, 1.30pm & 6pm
BOAT, Dyke Road Park

BEES !The Colony
Buzzing with panache
and imagination, this combination of walkabout performance and installation engages all the senses as it investigates the complex relationship humans have with bees.
Sun 3 May, 12 noon – 5pm, Woodingdean Central Park
Mon 4 May, 12 noon – 5pm, Saltdean Oval
Free

Ear Trumpet
Ear Trumpet is about listening. It’s about the sound under the ground, the noises that you would miss if you didn’t listen for them. Oozing with whimsy, this playful installation features original music recorded ‘in the field’ by the musician and composer Robert Lee
Sat 16 & Sun 17 May,
12 – 2pm and 3 – 5pm
Queens Park
Free
The Company of Wolves
Burn The Curtain
A young girl puts on her red cloak and heads into the forest, watched by unseen eyes. So the hunt begins. Run or walk and help to sniff out those who are hairy on the inside…
Thu 7 – Sat 9 May, 8.30pm, £15 Stanmer Park
Reliquary
Avanti Display
A bejewelled casket makes its enigmatic way around Brighton. What on earth can be inside? Well, stand ready people, for we have discovered a new species and preserved its last egg, and it’s about to – no, that could never happen! Could it?
Sun 3 May, 12 noon – 5pm, Woodingdean Central Park
Mon 4 May, 12 noon – 5pm, Saltdean Oval
Free