Global superstars, Sister Sledge, are the latest addition to the main stage lineup at Brighton Pride on August 6.
The Grammy nominated, Queens of Disco with worldwide record sales of more than 15 million copies will bring the Pride Festival Finale to a pulsating climax.
No dance floor is complete without a Sister Sledge track. Be it We Are Family, He’s The Greatest Dancer, Thinking Of You or Lost In Music, Sister Sledge provide the perfect soundtrack to our disco lives.
Nothing brings audiences or clubbers together better than a session with Sister Sledge who will be performing at Pride with a full live band.
During a spectacular career they have performed alongside a galaxy of mega stars including Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Public Enemy, Andrea Bocelli and wowed festival goers on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage and Bestival.
Sister Sledge will join international artists Carly Rae Jepsen, DJ Fresh, Fleur East, Alesha Dixon, The 2Bears and many more for what is set to be the best lineup of performers at Brighton Pride to date.
For more information about confirmed artists, click here:
Pride Festival Tickets £12.50 Early bird SOLD OUT / £17.50 First release SOLD OUT / £21.00 Second release AVAILABLE NOW / £25 Third Release/ £30 Final Release.
A short film written and directed by Dr Christine Templeton-Parker, a Lecturer at the University of Derby, has won five prestigious Awards of Excellence at the international Best Shorts Competition.
The Carer
The Carer, which was commissioned by QUAD in Derby for its Shine a Light series of short films and funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Arts Foundation, was awarded the gongs at a ceremony in Los Angeles earlier this month.
Featuring exceptional performances from BAFTA-nominated actor Peter Eyre and newcomer Barney Glover, the short drama was honoured for its script, directing and audience impact.
Christine Templeton-Parker
Writer and Director Christine Templeton-Parker, who will lead a new MA in Writing for Performance at the University of Derby this year, said:“I’m thrilled to have won these awards and I’m particularly pleased for Seen ‘Ya Rights – the real life Derby-based campaigners for dignity in elderly care who inspired my story.
“The Carer is about what happens when an elderly gay man feels pressured to return to the closet in his dying days. It’s a story for everyone, about finding a way to retain your identity and dignity at a time of crisis.”
Lead actor Peter Eyre added:“I was working in New York in the theatre when Christine sent me the script of The Carer. I was very struck by the originality of the theme. There aren’t many films made about elderly people, and certainly very few films, or none about elderly homosexual men.
“What I really loved about the script was the delicacy of the story telling, and a kind of poetic element which made it subtle and touching, not preachy or journalistic.”
Peter Eyre
The Best Shorts Competition recognises film, television, videography and new media professionals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity, and those who produce standout entertainment or contribute to profound social change. Entries are privately judged by highly qualified professionals in the film and television industry.
In winning these awards, The Carer joins the ranks of other high-profile winners of this internationally respected accolade including The Weinstein Company for Market Hours, Disney Interactive for Vinlymation: A Love Story and Oscar-winning production Mr. Hublot from Laurent Witz from Luxembourg.
Rick Prickett, who chairs the Best Shorts Competition, said:“Best Shorts is not an easy award to win. Entries are received from around the world from powerhouse companies to remarkable new talent. The Best Shorts Competition helps set the standard for craft and creativity and ensures the winners achieve the recognition they deserve.”
John Whall, Digital Participation Curator at QUAD, added:“These accolades go to show how dedicated Christine is to telling a story with real merit, inspired by the passions of real people from Derby. It has been fantastic to have Christine work on the Shine a Light series and we couldn’t have found a better fit to work with project group Seen ‘Ya Rights.”
The new MA in Writing for Performance will prepare students for a sustainable career in writing across film, theatre, radio and television.
For more information about the course, click here:
For more information about QUAD’s Shine a Light project, click here:
Peter Kyle, MP for Hove & Portslade and Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven and a lifelong fan and a season ticket holder of Brighton & Hove Albion, both show support for the Seagulls at they go into their final two games of the season.
Peter Kyle MP for Hove & Portslade
The football club who have the best chance of securing promotion to the Premier League for many years has called for the city to go blue and white in support of the team and both MPs have obliged by flying the Brighton and Hove flag from their constituency offices.
Peter said:“The result for Brighton & Hove Albion isn’t just about football at its best, it’s also about ambition, achievement, and us coming together as a city to support our team. It’s an incredible achievement to get this far and I’ll be rooting for them all the way. Let’s turn our city blue and white to show our support! Come on Seagulls!!!”
Simon Kirby MP for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven
Simon said:“It has been a fantastic season and I wish everyone involved with the Seagulls the very best of luck.
“I wore my Albion tie in Prime Minister’s Questions last week and will be showing the Albion flag in my constituency office window for the final period of this incredible season.
“Promotion to the Premier League will be a great thing for Brighton, boosting the city’s economy and attracting even more visitors and investors to our fabulous city where the sun really does shine!”
Not wanting Hove to be left out of the celebrations, Peter Kyle MP for Hove & Portslade is flying the Seagulls flag outside his constituency office in Church Road Hove.
A new play in which a father and transgender child workout how to both communicate and relate is to each other to receive its public premier at the Brighton Fringe 2016.
The play takes a fresh look at the age-old problem of family communications, but with humour and a twist.
Communication? Between a father and a child? How difficult can that be?
Communication? Between a father and a transgender child? How much of a nightmare can that be?
On his 400th anniversary, can Shakespeare help?
Follow a father and child exploring each other’s worlds with the help, and hindrance of the Bard.
The Grateful Dead and Against Me provide some musical assistance.
Written and performed by said father and child. By the father as a way to understand, by the child as a way to self-expression and release.
Event:Transgendered Shakespeare: Written and performed by Simon Waterfield and Rory Waterfield
Where: The Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AF
When: Saturday, May 14; Saturday, May 21; Friday, May 27; Saturday, May 28 2016
World premier of a new musical inspired by trans icon and Warhol superstar, Holly Woodlawn debuts at Brighton Fringe in June.
Inspired by the real life of late Warhol Superstar, Holly Woodlawn, HIGH AS SUGAR is a new one-person musical about a trans woman in 1970, New York City.
Tanner Efinger is a “highly talented performer” *****Fringe Guru, 2015
Join Sugar as she transports you to her world of underground parties, unlawful indulgence, art-pop, Vaseline and glitter. Sugar lives shamelessly and is adored unreservedly. But when the lights come up, and the glitter fades, is Sugar’s celebration just a mirage?
After performing in Shit-faced Showtime last year, Tanner is thrilled to be back at the Brighton Fringe for the world premiere of this new solo musical. Written and performed by Tanner Efinger; directed by Lizzy McBain; composed by Matt Winkworth; movement direction by Emma Webb; set and design by Suzie Burlton.
The LipSinkers make their debut at Brighton Fringe with a unique and radical drag show which cuts an uncompromising line between showbiz insanity and queer political spoof.
The LipSinkers are a drag troupe who mime to pop songs. But their show isn’t A Night Out with Danny La Rue. It’s not RuPaul’s Drag Race. And it’s not for the mild at heart or the mess-averse.
It’s weird, wild, funny and fresh. ***** The Scotsman
Stick around post show for an after-hours session with company and friends. DJing disco, new wave, new romantic, pop with smokin’ hot burlesque Go-Go’s and other weird shit as their Royal Vauxhall Tavern Friday night party is transported to one of Brighton’s premier live entertainment venue to kick off the weekend.
Celebrating their 10th anniversary, The LipSinkers have been at the heart of the alt – cabaret scene since 2006 and regularly perform across the UK and internationally. They have been resident at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern since 2012 and have performed everywhere from the Royal Festival Hall to Butlins via the Labour Party Conference and Soho theatre.
Funny Women finalist Jane Postlethwaite returns to Brighton during the Fringe with her sell-out debut comedy show.
Jane Postlethwaite: Photo by Richard Boll Photography
Last year mutli-award finalist Cumbrian comedy actress and writer Jane Postlethwaite brought her debut solo character comedy show Made in Cumbria to the Brighton Fringe. The show was a sell-out success, playing to standing-room only audiences
Jane and her comedy characters, became a finalist in both the Funny Women Awards and the Brighton Comedy Festival Squawker Awards 2015.
After further development, Jane returns to the Brighton Fringe this year with a more finely tuned show, introducing another unique character. She will be doing four dates in the Brighton Fringe with the award nominated Lamb Comedy Productions.
Following Brighton Fringe, Jane will be taking her debut show to the Edinburgh Festival with Sweet Venues from August, 5-28, 2016, where she is hotly tipped as the next big character comedy star.
Enter the unique world of Jane’s dark comedy characters – five women who are inspired by her roots in The Lakes. Meet Kirsty Bird a nervous and lonely falconry expert, Karroll Karabiner Kavannagh – Cumbria’s number one survival expert, Stella Nova – the first northern female astronaut, Joy Hope,the darkly twisted children’s author and illustrator and the gentle Mary Façade who runs the Northern School of Mask.
Part of Jane’s motivation for creating her own characters came from being “fed up with watching Southern comedians using a Northern accent for a cheap laugh and representing Northerners as thick and stupid”. She aims to create more original and complex characters with depth, darkness and wit.
Event: Jane Postlethwaite – Made in Cumbria
Where: Lamb Comedy Productions at Nowhere Man, 53 Upper North St, Brighton, BN1 3FH
When: Friday, May 13 / Saturday May 14 @ 8.30pm: Friday, May 27 / Saturday, May 28 @ 8.30pm
Mexican markets are places to wander, gossiping with passers-by whilst waiting for tacos, tostadas and quesadillas to be cooked in front of you. Mouth-watering smells, vibrant colours and the hustle-bustle of the market feed the senses and lift the spirits, now new kids on the block Wahaca have brought their modern take of this to the charming colonnades of Brighton’s Cultural Quarter in New Road.
From the moment we arrived at Wahaca the staff were brilliant. A good restaurant experince is about two things- obviously the food and then the ‘relationship’ with your waiter or serving staff. The staff at Wahaca get this exactly right, they are friendly, informative and know the food, menu and ingredients well. We had some great suggestions from our waiter who asked us about our tastes before suggesting items off the menu. Manager Anna Kearney, dressed in a superb vintage Mexican Tel-Art shirt with a huge beaming cheeky smile explained that that was part of the Wahaca style, relaxed, informal but with quality at the forefront always. Shes assembled a good team, lots of the staff are Brighton veterans with an impressive back story of quality venues behind them. Thomasina Miers the co-founder of Wahaca (and Masterchef winner) was on hand to explain their strong commitment to sustainable & fair catering and explained that they buy from Mexico & source direct from cooperatives which support local farming communities & source tequilas and mescals from small family-run businesses that make the best product. The menu is laid out in easy to follow segments on the large paper table covering. It’s easy to follow. There’s a superb range of traditional street food, with plenty of tapas style options so you can mix and match, nothing too expensive with a few seasonal taco specials. Kicking off with some light nibbles of a smooth, tangy guacamole with puffed Chicharrons style pork scratching this got us into the mood. We tried both specials; the lamb slow roasted marinated in orange was super and the prawns chopped into a paste with chilli and coriander, both worth a punt. The street food menu of Taco’s Taquitos, Tostadas or Quesadillias are all very tasty, you can grab three or four and share them. I went for one of each, a sweet potatoes and feta Taquitos, which was fresh, soft with a creamy finish of the roasted sweet potato, a simple chicken tinga Taco, with the chipotle balanced just right with the spice and a Smokey chipotle chicken Quesadilla was a cheesy, tasty and spiced. We took a side of Frijoles, the standard Mexican bean dish, it was perfect. Alongside the street food menu is more substantial menu of huge salads, burritos or grilled British meats with a Mexican twist.
While having some modern takes on traditional street food the kitchens at Wahaca keep their basics un-fiddled with and as true to their roots as it’s possible to be in the UK.
With a good range of beers, tequilas, and mescaline to run alongside the wine menu there is plenty of choice, the margaritas are authentic, with a tangy kick and the Chelada choices – beer with fresh lime, salt and spice- had a decent, refreshing kick. The Wahaca single source mescals are superb and we enjoyed them with some helpful advice from the staff on how to best enjoy this smokey smooth, complex but delicious Mexican drink.
The venue is clean, fresh and accessible, with some of the best people watching to be had in the city. You really can’t beat New Road on a good sunny afternoon to oggle the oddness that wanders by, or enjoy it on a rainy day from the huge windows that ring the restaurant. The music is funky, Mexicana retro and you can track down the songs on their website afterwards. There’s a large private dinging space, decked out with an urban retro vibe, murals and paintings by Mexican street artist/social campaigner Mazatl, email them for more details about hiring that space.
With some innovative menu items ( a full gluten free menu ) and seriously welcoming vibe and the ability to pay by app, if you’re in a hurry, this is a hip, modern and tasty choice for a quick afternoon bites or a more substantial evening out in town. Wahaca donates money from each street dish to their chosen charities and it’s good to see such sustainable commitment in a rapidly expanding restaurant chain. They have won awards for their commitments to sustainable and green food production. The menu caters for all tastes and pockets, and the all-important ambiance encourages you to relax and enjoy the food.
Wahaca is a very welcome addition to the growing city food scene from the Americans and their modern, original and well balanced take on Mexican cuisine, coupled with their superb location and serious commitment to charming, welcoming and knowledgeable staff mean this is a place to get familiar with.
For more info check out their website here. With a lot of tables kept for drop-in unreserved eating it’s easy to eat on impulse, but with the ability to book and reserve space at the bars for larger parties the folks at Wahaca have it covered and not a unibrow in sight, alas.
Recommended.
A report from the Care Quality Commission [CQC] report places Whitehawk GP practice, in Special Measures.
The Broadway GP Surgery in Whitehawk, Brighton has been found inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and given 6 months to remedy the significant number of issues that have been found to be substandard in the surgery.
Healthwatch Brighton & Hove (HWBH) is particularly concerned because this is the eighth practice in Brighton & Hove where there have been problems, in just over a year, and the third practice in the East of the city, where deprivation levels are high and inequalities in health are already a cause for concern.
This GP Practice has been found to be “Unsatisfactory” on Safety, Effective Services and Leadership and as “Requiring Improvement” on Providing Caring Services and Being Responsive to People’s Needs.
For example, the report found:
♦ Patients were at risk of harm because systems and processes were not in place to keep them safe with no evidence that appropriate recruitment checks on staff had been undertaken prior to their employment.
♦ Effective arrangements for managing medicines, including emergency drugs, vaccines and high risk medicines were not in place.
♦ Not all staff were clear about how to report incidents, near misses and concerns.
♦ Not all staff who acted as chaperones had received training for the role. Also there was no evidence to show that all staff had received up to date training on basic life support.
♦ Not all staff who acted as chaperones had received a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS check).
♦ Staff had not received any training on infection control.
♦ The practice was unable to demonstrate effective management of complaints since 2014.
♦ The practice had not undertaken any audits of clinical practice to ensure improved outcomes for patients and there was no evidence of any quality improvement.
♦ There was a large variation in practice performance against the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) and national prescribing indicators compared to the clinical commissioning group (CCG) and national averages.
The CQC report lists 14 areas where the providers must make improvements and 3 additional areas where they should make improvements.
The practice has 6 months to make the required improvements or face further action by the CQC.
The Broadway Practice provides GP services to over 2400 people in the Whitehawk locality and is based at the Wellsbourne Centre, East Brighton
Fran McCabe
Fran McCabe, chair of HWBH, said:“This is yet another example of a low quality service in an area which has had a series of problems with the provision of GP services. East Brighton faces multiple social disadvantages, is the most disadvantaged part of our City and local people deserve better quality, reliable, safe and accessible GP services.”
This CQC inspection echo’s issues that have been found to be unsatisfactory in other CQC inspections in Brighton and Hove including the Goodwood Court Medical Centre which was closed by the CQC in the last year.
Over the last year HWBH received over 500 responses from local people in a questionnaire based survey they conducted into people experiences of GP services. In addition, using their ‘Enter and View’ powers they visited 15 GP Practices and will shortly be providing them with detailed feedback based on their findings.
Healthwatch Brighton and Hove will continue to work closely with NHS England and the local Clinical Commissioning Group [CCG] to help improve GP services and other health and social care services in Brighton and Hove.
Brighton Pride Festival is set to get even bigger in 2016 with the creation of a new Festival Zone and Community Cultural Hub in the centre of the City.
The Pride Pleasure Gardens will run over three days across Old Steine and Victoria Gardens.
Victoria Gardens will feature the Pride Community Stage with special performances over the weekend. Entry is free all weekend apart from a special ticketed benefit concert for The Rainbow Fund, featuring Heather Peace and Lucy Spraggan on Friday 5 from 6pm.
Pride will be working alongside Street Diner, Brighton’s hottest street food market who always ensure you arrive hungry and leave happy, to create the Pride Food Village.
Street Diner at Victoria Gardens will deliver the best in locally sourced food allowing you to relax and recharge in the centre of the city. Add entertainment courtesy of the Pride Community Stage and Bar and Victoria Gardens will sparkle throughout the Pride celebrations.
The Old Steine will be transformed into an exotic Pride experience with Pleasure Gardens and Pride Pavilion featuring entertainers, street performers and a kitchen area destined to dazzle your taste buds with food stalls and seating.
They’ll also be a VIP area hosted by Absolute magazine and plenty of bars especially designed to enhance your Pride experience throughout the festivities.
The Pride Pavilion venue inside the gardens will feature off the wall cabaret and disco madness with among others Dynamite Boogaloo, Sink The Pink and English Disco Lovers. Tickets may be purchased in advance.
Entry to the Old Steine Pleasure Gardens will be free (apart from during Pride Village Party times when wristbands will be required or for Pride Pavilion ticketed events.
The Pride Pleasure Gardens, will bring the best of Brighton’s community and culture to the heart of the city for your Pride pleasure.
Event: The Pleasure Gardens
Where: Old Steine and Victoria Gardens
When: August 5 – August 7, 2016
For more details of events and how to book tickets, click here:
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