Brighton and Hove News attended the recent unveiling of this year’s Brighton Festival 2025 bringing a positive twist to February and looking ahead to this spring’s events.
This year’s programme promises to be an extraordinary celebration of creativity, diversity, and collective renewal, as it welcomes acclaimed musician, composer, and activist Anoushka Shankar as its Guest Director.
At the festival’s launch event, held earlier this week, I had the privilege of witnessing first-hand the unveiling of this year’s packed programme, centred around the theme ‘New Dawn.’
The event was a welcome return to what Brighton and Hove does best, cultural engagement, bright new ideas, free events, diversity, and artistic direction and the event, at Brighton Dome, was a packed, busy night.
This year’s festival, running from 3-26 May, is the first under the leadership of Lucy Davies, the newly appointed Chief Executive of Brighton Dome, Brighton Festival, and Create Music.
The new Chief Executive brings a wealth of theatre experience to this new job, as the former Executive Director at the Young Vic Theatre in London. Expect a revised focus and passion for live theatre and performance in the city as a result!
This new year of programming also marks a significant moment in Brighton Festival’s history as it continues to push boundaries and present an eclectic mix of world-class performances, thought-provoking discussions, and community-driven projects.
A Vision of Hope and Change
Inspired by the idea of emergence and transformation, talented musician Shankar has carefully curated a programme that seeks to bring people together in reflection and action.
“For Brighton Festival 2025, we look towards a New Dawn. Together with the Brighton Festival team, I’ve been shaping a programme that envisions a hopeful future – an emergence from the dark of night into the glow of early morning,” she said at the launch event.
The programme is quite remarkable, offering a diverse array of 120 events across theatre, music, dance, film, literature, visual arts, outdoor spectacles, and participatory experiences. A particular highlight is How dark it is before dawn, a mass public art project by artists Doyel Joshi and Neil Ghose Balser, which invites the community to illustrate their vision of a ‘New Dawn,’ culminating in an exhibition at The Old Courtroom in Brighton.
On a personal level as a Brighton resident, and as Cultural Co-Editor of Brighton & Hove News, I’m very much looking forward to seeing the re-worked production of North by Northwest (the Hitchcock classic) but this time with a comic twist, and performed by Emma Rice’s Theatre company Wise Children.
Global Perspectives and Local Voices
As the UK’s largest annual curated multi-arts festival, Brighton Festival continues its tradition of bringing together exceptional talent from around the world. This year’s programme is rich with South Asian artistry, featuring luminaries such as Meera Syal, Aakash Odedra, Aditya Prakash, Aruna Sairam, and Arooj Aftab. In addition, internationally renowned figures including Nadine Shah, Rebecca Solnit, Martin Parr, Max Cooper, and Hofesh Shechter will present new and exciting works.
A major theatrical world premiere is Wembley, written by acclaimed author Nikesh Shukla (The Good Immigrant) alongside actors Nikesh Patel (Starstruck) and Himesh Patel (Yesterday). Set in the wake of the post-Brexit UK’s 2024 race riots, this powerful new work explores identity, belonging, and the urgent need for social change.
Anoushka Shankar’s Personal Touch
One of the festival’s most eagerly anticipated performances is Shankar’s own show, Chapter III: We Return to Light. The culmination of her trilogy of albums, this performance reflects her journey through uncertainty and darkness, ultimately embracing resilience and renewal. The festival will also feature Brown Girl In The Ring, a specially curated event co-hosted by Shankar, celebrating female talent in music, film, and culture, with appearances by luminaries such as Mona Arshi, Nikita Gill, Asha Puthli, Meera Syal (CBE), and Indira Varma.
A New Era for Brighton Festival
With Lucy Davies at the helm and Anoushka Shankar setting the artistic direction, Brighton Festival 2025 is shaping up to be a bold and visionary edition that underscores the festival’s reputation as a platform for creative excellence and social discourse.
As I absorbed the energy and ambition of the launch event in the iconic Brighton Dome venue with its rich history, it was evident that this year’s festival is not only a celebration of artistry but also a call to embrace change, nurture hope, and reimagine a brighter future together.
Lucy Davies, Chief Executive of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival says:
“Brighton Festival 2025 is a magnificent body of work – inclusive, generous, global, confident, inter-generational, classical and very cool. Anoushka Shankar has guided, created and curated a very brilliant set of projects which radiate care – for one another, the planet, art, music, ourselves. There are unique events in here which will be memory-making – lucky people of the future will be able to say ‘I was there.’ That is what Brighton Festival is all about. I’m honoured and excited to share it with the world.”
For full programme details and ticket information, visit Brighton Festival’s official website.
Brighton Festival takes place from 3-26 May 2025.
