Post arrives too soon for Brighton Festival team

With all the complaints about letters being delivered late by the Royal Mail, the team preparing to announce the line up of the Brighton Festival this year has had the opposite problem.

Brochures for the 60th anniversary of the Festival have been reaching members and supporters over the past few days, with the annual “launch” event not due until Wednesday (18 February).

Now, organisers have emailed members about “Your Brighton Festival Brochure”, saying: “We wanted our members to be the first to see what we’ve been working on and to make sure you have them ready for the programme launch on Wednesday 18 February.

“We are aware that copies of the Brighton Festival 2026 brochure have started arriving through the post.

“So we have a small favour to ask: Please keep the contents and design under wraps for just a few more days.

“The official public launch isn’t until 11am on Wednesday 18 February, with tickets going on sale to members from Thursday 19 February.

“We ask that you do not share, post or publish any details regarding the programme until the public announcement.

“Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing many of you at the launch on Wednesday evening to celebrate our 60th edition.”

The episode has shades of the government’s budget last November when the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published a key document prematurely.

But rather than cause official consternation, the latest rather-too-timely issue merely means that some can spend a few more days working out what tickets to buy in the members’ pre-sale from Thursday (19 February).

Tickets are due to go on general sale on Thursday 26 February. Membership is available from £40. To buy either, click here.