Our Place Family Fun Day

This May, the Brighton Festival reaches its 60th edition, marking what the organisers are calling a new era under the direction of Lucy Davies. Between the 1st and 26th of May, the city will see over 100 different events, but one of the more community-focused dates is Monday, 4 May 2026. On this day, the Brighton Dome will host the Our Place Family Fun Day, a free event that also serves as a tenth-anniversary celebration for the Our Place community programme. It is a specific part of the festival's history that has grown over the last decade to focus on making the arts more accessible to people living in different parts of the city.

The programme behind the fun day involves several long-term collaborations with local artists. In East Brighton, an artist known as Leo has been working on creating art trails and sculptures, while Darren East has been running workshops focused on the construction of giant puppets. These activities are part of the broader Our Place mission to integrate world-class artistry with local participation. According to Davies, the goal is to create lasting memories for the audiences that make the festival what it is each year. The event at the Brighton Dome brings these elements together in a central location, allowing families to see the results of these community projects in a relaxed setting.

For those planning to be around the Brighton Dome on the 4th, it is worth noting that the schedule is quite varied. While the Family Fun Day is free and aimed at a broad local audience, the Concert Hall will also be hosting a performance of Bach’s St John Passion on the same date. This mix of free community celebrations and formal ticketed concerts is typical of the festival’s structure this year. Because the Our Place event doesn't require a booking or an entry fee, it functions as an open invitation for residents to engage with the festival's 60th-anniversary milestone without the barriers of a traditional performance. It’s a chance to see how the community programme has evolved since its inception ten years ago while spending the bank holiday Monday in one of the city's most recognisable venues.