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Exciting new events planned for 2017 include LGBT History Month Festival in Big Top

An Oktoberfest German beer festival, a new hub for the Brighton Fringe and a programme of events to celebrate LGBT History Month are among the range of outdoor events being planned for Brighton & Hove next year. 

web-600The council’s Economic Development and Culture Committee are being asked to give landlord’s consent for a varied programme of events planned for the city’s parks and open spaces, at a meeting this Thursday, November 17.

Brighton Pride Parade
Brighton Pride Parade

Outdoor events play a major role in the city contributing to the economy and attracting tourism. The 2017 proposed programme includes regular events, such as Pride, the city’s biggest event attracting 150,000 visitors, the Brighton Marathon in April, now established as one of the leading marathons in the country, and the return of the Brighton International Triathlon, held for the first time in the city last year.

Promoters of the popular Together the People Festival in Preston Park have asked the council for permission to add an extra day, September 1, to provide opportunities for more local artists to perform, and the Coles Funfair and fireworks event, which attracted 4,000 people last year looks set to return to Preston Park on October 20.

New events include a LGBT History Exhibition from February 3 to 19 which could see a Big Top style tent on the New Steine hosting a range of events including a comedy gala night, photo exhibition, self-defence workshops, conferences and lectures.

The Oktoberfest 3 day festival, based around a traditional German beer festival with food, music and live entertainment, is scheduled to take place on The Level from October 12 to 14.

Other events proposed for parks and open spaces include the Moscow State Circus, Brighton Kite Festival, an off-road bike ride,  Paddle Round the Pier, Heroes vs Villains Superheroes Run and a Fiery Food Festival.

Cllr Alan Robins
Cllr Alan Robins

Councillor Alan Robins, chair of the council’s Economic Development and Culture Committee said: “Outdoor events play a major role in attracting visitors to Brighton & Hove all year round, adding to the vibrancy of the city for residents and tourists and making a significant contribution to the local economy.

“Events such as the Pride, the Marathon and the Brighton Festival bring huge crowds to the city, attracting widespread media coverage and providing valuable publicity. We are particularly excited about our new events – Oktoberfest, The Brighton Fringe Hub  and the LGBT History month celebrations.”

Landlord’s consent is required from the council for the staging of all major outdoor events in the city and councillors are considering applications submitted for events now, to enable the organisers to plan ahead for next year.

World AIDS Day events

The Brighton and Hove World AIDS Day Community Partnership are organising the following events to mark World AIDS Day (WAD) on Thursday, December 1.

 

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The Partnership includes: Avert , BHCC Partnership Community Safety Team, Brighton GEMS, The Brighton & Hove, LGBT Safety Forum, Gscene, Lunch Positive, Peer Action, The Sussex Beacon, Sussex Ecumenical HIV Chaplaincy and THT South.

World AIDS Day Community Partnership Events:

Sunday November 27
Positive Hope – Service of Remembrance and Solidarity
The Sanctuary (top floor), Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, Dorset Gardens, BN2 1RL at 4pm, followed by refreshments.

Churches Together in Central Brighton and Sussex HIV Chaplaincy invite ALL to join them in a service of remembrance for those who have died and solidarity for those living with HIV/AIDS. An opportunity for prayer and reflection, in a welcoming and supportive atmosphere, for those with some faith or none, ALL are welcome. The speaker will be Revd. Steven Foster (Lunch Positive Chair of Trustees).

Monday November 28 to Thursday, December 1
WAD Partnership ‘meet and greet’ and resources

Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton (exhibition area in foyer, by main entrance)

Members of the partnership will be available in person for most of the time between 9am and 5pm. Leaflets and other information resources will also be available.

Still from 'We Were Here'
Still from ‘We Were Here’

Wednesday, November 30
We Were Here FREE Film Screening presented by Lunch Positive

Main Hall (1st floor), Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, Dorset Gardens, BN2 1RL:
Buffet from 6.45pm. Screening starts 7.30pm

Join Lunch Positive at a special screening of We Were Here, a true story from those in San Francisco who lived through the early days of the AIDS epidemic. For some this is a reminder and for others an insight, as we prepare to remember on World AIDS Day. Seating is limited so please arrive in good time. Entry is free, but donations to cover food and venue costs are welcome.

Thursday December 1, 4pm – 7pm
New Steine Gardens Memorial Space
New Steine Gardens, Kemp Town, Brighton

Volunteers and staff from the Partnership will be at New Steine Gardens from 4pm, providing a safe and welcoming space for people to leave items or messages of hope or remembrance at the memorial. New names of those we have lost can be added to the vigil list between 4 and 5pm. Refreshments will also be available.

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Thursday December 1, from 6 – 7pm
Brighton AIDS Memorial Candlelight Vigil
New Steine Gardens, Kemp Town, Brighton

Everyone is welcome to attend the remembrance event of those we have lost to HIV/AIDS in Brighton and Hove. There will be a reading of the names and a candle light vigil. Space will be available for anyone seeking quiet moments of reflection.

New names to be read (in addition to those read in previous years) can be emailed to susshivchap@gmail.com by November 27, or can be added to the list during the day at the New Steine Gardens Memorial Space.

For up to date information, click here:

REVIEW: BREMF: GAIA – Three Intermedi for a Living Planet

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BREMF – GAIA – Three Intermedi for a Living Planet

In a run of concerts that have just continued to impress there’s bound to be one trip up and the one I thought would be the most splendid – disappointed.  It was an evening of hubris.

The music was superb, opening with tremendous aplomb with Josquin des Prez’s Qui habitat. Astonishing opening,  lifting, soaring purity of voice rising into the high ethereal vaults of this highest of parish churches, the programme of music was  ambitious in scope and well thought out and balanced and the combination of choir, singers and orchestras matched the huge space well, taking the sound and giving it the majesty and volume that St Bartholomew demands. It’s an utterly unforgiving venue but the music over powered it, subsumed it and allowed its unconventional auditory characteristics to flow and ripple the music around. What a way to start, and I wish the afternoon had continued in such tremendous vein.

The supporting ‘intermedi’ were completely overshadowed by a combination of bad technical problems and ill thought out production.  The music in an intermedi is supposed to reflect the drama, but this felt the other way around, the drama, film snippets and dance/drama added on. The films accompanying the music were far too small for the space and the thought behind them (although their content often rose about these limitations for a short while). A small hovering rectangle projected onto a screen five times as large, both backdrop and screen it functioned as nether, the dancing was very difficult to follow and even see and the projections had failed by then leaving two baleful white bulbs burning out from behind the backdrop, like a malevolent pair of eyes of the goddess of Rhamnous on the altar distracting from the choreography and unfolding dramas. I’m sure on a HD widescreen laptop the whole thing had looked and sounded superb – as did the trailer- , but it failed to impress in St Barts vast belly.  I’d been at the ENO the week before where the huge stage projections were used with simplicity and brilliance, these projectors were too small, too domestic for St Bartholomew’s cavernous space. The bar has been set pretty high for this kind of staging and musical projections in the city.

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It’s unfortunate that a production that is so heavily reliant on it’s  ‘special effects’, dramatics and stage craft was let down so badly by them and although we were told it was a ‘massive viral infection’ that had caused the problem I was sitting pretty close to the tech desk and could see the mounting panic and frustration as it became clear that the failing tech was not going to play ball. Drives were swapped, plugs pulled, wires crossed, uncrossed and silent prayers and curses passed from the lips of the technicians, it’s micro drama was a curious contrast to the ethereal music and for a (short) while I enjoyed the clashing dichotomy.

See full details of the event here

The music and singing continued to impress but the relentless white projection light and scrabbling, beeping and movement of wires and bodies alongside our seats made a staging failure an overall distracting unpleasantness.

We left at the first interval along with a fair few people sitting around us.

I was informed that the second performance later than night was a huge improvement, but perhaps a little longer on technical rehearsals would have cleared up these glitches before the event itself.

St Bartholomew’s Church

12 November 2017

BREMF Consort of Voices

Deborah Roberts director

Onde Sonore

Deborah Roberts soprano Christina Thaler soprano
Natasha Stone alto Matthew Pochin tenor
Dominic Bevan tenor Andrew Robinson bass

Lacock Scholars

Greg Skidmore director
BREMF Community Choir

Andrew Robinson director

The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble

Claire Williams organ

Harpsichord Aileen Henry

Harp Toby Carrchitarrone

Alison Kinder bass viol

 

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REVIEW: Dr Dee’s Daughter and The Philosopher’s Stone: Palisander

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Dr Dee’s Daughter and The Philosopher’s Stone

Recorder consort Palisander and Rust & Stardust puppets

Saturday November 12, Brighton Friends’ Meeting House at 11.30am

 

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This was a brand new collaboration and family friendly show with live music from recorder consort Palisander accompanied by the delightful narration and handmade puppets from Rust & Starlight.  It was an exciting blend of music, puppetry and storytelling with themes of history, magic and science blended in taking the wonderful story of Dr Dee, scientist, magician and all round meddler in the arcane and unknowns and his daughters who assist and attempt to put things back to sense of normal after he unleashes forces unknown. In 1595, Dr John Dee, alchemist, astronomer and magician takes his family and relocates to draughty Manchester College. While he is immersed in study, his daughter Katherine reads about his abandoned quest to discover the Philosopher’s Stone, the Elixir of Life and the music wove an extraordinary  back story to this fun and engaging show.

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Rust & Stardust is a Sussex-based company and their work combines theatre, puppetry, animation and music, it shows how passionate they are about stories and storytelling, folklore and mythology and the obvious craft and care that go into the production of their multi use sets and puppets. Carefully working the story in and around the music this collaboration kept a room full of children spellbound for an hour (no mean feat) and the adults interested and engaged also. They were funny with some artful deconstructive laughs for the adult’s in the room while keeping the focus firmly on the narrative tension for the youngsters.

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This was an excellent, comfortable event at the Friends Meeting House and a great way of introducing younger people to ancient music and also the art of storytelling and the craft of doing so with props, puppets and magic that you’ve created and made yourself. With Palisander attired in courtly Elizabethan angelic gossamer and with hardly a pause to check the music, they worked those wondrous recorders of all shapes and sizes in a deft performance, showing us the range of recorder music at its best, while the  kids watched the antics of the puppetry crows and shadows…

Superb on all levels!

Recorder consort Palisander are

Lydia Gosnell 
Hannah Fisher 
Miriam Nerval 
Caoimhe de Paor 

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The BREMF is now over and delivered a wide programme of music, with eclectic and curious performances in some superb venues across the city. The music this year was excellent it’s a real gem of a festival, you can see an overview of the entire festival here or sign up for their newsletter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LGBT+ community representatives honour the fallen

Representatives from Brighton Pride and Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum (B&H LGBT CSF) lay poppy wreaths at the annual Act of Remembrance on Old Steine on Sunday, November 13 to mark the lives of LGBT+ people lost during conflict wars.

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Remembrance Sunday marks the day World War One ended, in 1918. A two-minute silence was held to remember the people who have died in both world wars and more recent conflicts.

The ceremony was observed by the Rt Worshipful the Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Cllr Pete West, and dignatries, religious representatives and citizens of Brighton & Hove including Caroline Lucas MP for Brighton Pavilion, Simon Kirby MP for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven, Geoff Raw Chief Executive of Brighton & Hove City Council, Cllr Gill Mitchell Deputy Leader of the Labour group on Brighton & Hove City Council and the Queens representative, Mr Peter Field The East Sussex Lord Lieutenant among others.

Prayers were read by The chaplain to the Mayor Rev. Anthea Ballam, Rabbi Dr Andreas Zanardo and the Venerable Martin Lloyd Williams The Archdeacon of Brighton & Lewes.

Wreaths were laid at the War Memorial by representatives from a wide range of city organisations followed by a march past of representatives from the Armed Forces.

Paul Kemp, Director of Brighton & Hove Pride, said: “It is a honour for everyone at Brighton Pride to mark the sacrifices made by so many during the great wars.”

Billie Lewis, Chair of the B&H LGBT CSF, added: “It is important that we never forget the contribution LGBT+ people make to our armed forces and every year continue to remember the those that lost their lives to eventually give us our equality.”

Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Pavilion & Peacehaven, said: “It is always an incredibly humbling experience to pay my respects to those who have died in the service of their country and it is a huge honour and privilege to do so on behalf of the residents of Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven.”

“We must never forget the sacrifices made by the men and women who gave their lives defending our freedom.”

The B&H LGBT CSF also laid wreaths at the Cenotaph in Hove.

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