to add an item to your Itinerary basket.
Brighton blooms in May, with not just one, but four festivals, bringing the city to life with a riot of theatre, music, dance, comedy and a whole raft of family fun.
If like us you just can’t decide what to book first, we’ve studied the programmes to help create a handy festival guide so you don’t miss out. Follow us on our feast of festival fun, and we’ll see you at the gig!
Brighton Festival: 1 – 25 May
Brighton Festival is back and this May marks a momentous milestone: not only is the festival celebrating six decades of world-class performance here in Brighton, but it is also the 40th edition of the Children’s Parade.
📖 Michael Rosen & MC Grammar: Ridiculous Raps & Rhymes: 3 May
Get ready to rhyme, rap and ROAR with laughter! Former Children’s Laureate and poetry icon Michael Rosen has teamed up with award-winning rapping teacher and World Book Day ambassador, MC Grammar, for an action-packed musical showdown.
🔥KlangHaus: Last Haus on Earth: 2 – 23 May
Step inside an immersive live music experience for an intimate audience: part gig, part installation, part dream of the Last Haus on Earth. Uniting the raw energy of The Neutrinos with the evocative visual language of Sal Pittman, the show surrounds you with music, light, projection and objects.
💪 Carnation: 2 – 25 May, Various Times
A physical, human, sensual rollercoaster of large-scale immersive circus about hope in rebellion. World-class circus, live music and bold cinematic imagery collide in a charged, mesmeric big top experience, created and directed by Firenza Guidi (SABOTAGE, 2024).
Brighton Fringe: 1 – 31 May
This year Brighton Fringe returns to celebrate their 21st year running! Brighton Fringe is England's largest arts festival and one of the largest fringe festivals in the world, showcasing a range of diverse art forms to entertain a wide audience.
🤣 Pearl & Dean ride again: 9 & 23 May
Warning Pearl & Dean may just tickle you pink! After a sell out run at Brighton Fringe 2025 and being shortlisted for 3 awards, including best new show, Pearl and Dean are back with a brand new offering! Join the most "heterosexual" couple in show biz, for more high jinks on the high seas.
💑 Are you even Indian? 12 – 13 May
Are You Even Indian? follows a British-born Indian woman and an Indian-born man who fall in love. It feels like fate. A meet-cute, wedding dances, Bollywood jokes, and plans for a future they believe they are building together. But as the relationship deepens, so do the cracks.
🎤 Jonny Woo's Surburbia: 26 – 28 May
Jonny Woo's latest personal show, Suburbia, about his life from the suburbs of Kent to the queer scene in London and the sex clubs of New York received rave reviews and the Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence at The Edinburgh Fringe, 2025. Blending story-telling, drag, song, spoken word and burlesque, this is easily his most revealing show yet, in more ways than one.
Great Escape: 13 – 16 May
The Great Escape is the festival for new music, showcasing 450 emerging artists from all over the world in more than 30 walkable venues across the city and a pop-up festival site on Brighton beach. It’s the first place to discover your new favourite artist and see them in an intimate setting before they go on to headline major festival stages.
In a full-circle moment for the festival, the Brighton-formed indie icons were among the breakthrough acts who performed at the very first edition of The Great Escape in 2006. That same year, the band released their multi-platinum debut album Inside In/Inside Out, which also celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2026.
An iconic feminist musician, producer, director, and performance artist, Peaches first catapulted to stardom with her “surreally funny [and] nasty” (Rolling Stone) 2000 debut, The Teaches of Peaches, which introduced the world to her sexually transgressive, fiercely assertive, and utterly captivating persona.
🎙️Becky Sikasa: 13 May, various venues
Becky Sikasa is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and producer who blends neo-soul and alternative R&B into rich, introspective soundscapes. Her poetic lyrics explore love, identity, and personal transformation, earning her critical acclaim and growing national recognition.
Artist Open Houses: Weekends in May
The Artist Open Houses offer festival–goers the chance to meet the artists and to view locally made, seriously good arts and crafts. The festival is also an inclusive, community event, embracing artists of all ages, at all stages of their careers, including recent graduates and school and college students.
🎨 Each year we find a new favourite trail, the houses and artists exhibiting are so unique so we recommend picking up the brochure, finding an area you would like to explore and immersing yourself in local art and picking up some unique pieces on the way!
Want to stay in the city to soak up the festival atmosphere? Staybridge Suites offer the perfect “home from home” experience. Each of its 101 suites has all you need for your stay, a kitchenette, 24-hour launderette and gym, lounge area and you even get a complimentary breakfast included! Perfect for when you’ve stayed out late at a gig and need to refuel.
With hundreds of events taking place in the month of May, you can do something different every day of the month, so prepare to dive into festival fun and let Brighton kickstart your festival season!
Caroline
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