Time to Reach for the Hankies as Comedy Duo Take Final Brighton Bow

It’s the end of an era. Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders, our greatest female comedy double act of the last three decades are bringing their partnership to a close.

After thirty years together spent making the nation roar with laughter, they are finally calling a halt to their sketch-show. Time to reach for the hankies.

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the pair’s legions of fans; Dawn and Jennifer are embarking on a nationwide farewell tour entitled “Still Alive 2008” which is coming to the Brighton Centre, next month.

Read the full Brighton Magazine article for more information.

Great Escape Festival: World's Best New Music Comes Under The Brighton Spotlight

The countdown to the 2008 Great Escape Festival has started.

With just eleven weeks to go the cream of new music from the UK and around the world is being added to an already mouth-watering line-up.

Already confirmed are: Young Knives, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, Yeasayer, Black Mountain, No Age, Tunng, Lightspeed Champion, Wild Beasts, Fujiya & Miyagi, Peter Von Poehl and School Of Language. The Wombats, The Hold Steady, The Subways, Black Lips, White Lies, Monobright, Iron and Wine, Public Service Announcers, Born Ruffians, Broken Mirrors, Ipso Facto, Beat Union, Mother Mother, This City, One Night Only, Teenagers, Crystal Castles, Canterbury, Johnny Foreigner, Ida Maria, Team Waterpolo, Ebony Bones, The Black Angels, Volcanoless In Canada, Wintersleep, Plants And Animals, Torngat and Kreif’s Broken Mirrors.

Read the full Brighton Magazine article for more details and ticket information.

Mother's Day Gift Campaign

Maternity Worldwide are running a Mother’s Day campaign to encourage individuals to buy their mum an alternative Mother’s Day gift.

Rather than another box of chocolates or bunch of flowers they are suggesting that they celebrate Mothers Day by sponsoring a safe birth?

It costs only £15 to provide a safe delivery in Gimbie - Ethiopia.

In return for this sponsorship Maternity Worldwide send Mum a personalised gift certificate.

In addition to an innovative on-line campaign we will be raising awareness of the issues of maternal death overseas and selling the alternative gift at a number of locations in Brighton in the week running up to Mother’s Day.

Read the full Brighton.co.uk Magazine article here.

Barking Mad Brighton and Hove

Brighton and Hove Council will be banning dogs from all beaches between April and September and this also includes the promenade and undercliff walk.

It seems reasonable to keep beaches dog free in the main tourist areas, most responsible dog owners probably agree with this and wouldn't take their dogs to those busy areas anyway. But is banning dogs from all beaches going a bit far when there are far more important matters to focus on in Brighton and Hove, such as the ongoing waste management problem (today there is a hideous amount of smelly rubbish strewn all over the street outside the brighton.co.uk office)?

I can't remember the last time, if ever, I stepped in dog poo on Brighton Beach but I have stepped in: broken glass, rotting food, sat accidentally in black ashes from bonfires, and almost stepped on a upwardly pointed used needle - with bare feet. Will banning dogs from all beaches make them safer and cleaner?

Sign the online petition

See Karl Lester's Barking Mad Campaign for more details.

Brighton and Hove to be swept away?

We were rather bemused in the brighton.co.uk office to hear Gordon Brown's pronouncement that Brighton and Hove will be swept away in the not too distant future. Does he mean that global warming is Brighton and Hove's fault? How can this be?

• We all recycle don't we?
  
• We all shop at Infinity foods/have an allotment/get our vegetable boxes delivered from local farms and we certainly wouldn't be seen dead with a plastic bag.
• Our council is the largest authority supporting a voluntary ban on plastic bags.
• Our new Jubilee library is one of the most energy efficient public buildings in the country.
• The Forum for the Future's Sustainable Cities Index reported Brighton and Hove as the most sustainable city in the Britain.

What more can we do?

Brighton May Festival - What's On

Brighton.co.uk went along to the Brighton Festival launch party at the Dome to have a sneak preview of what we can expect from the world class arts festival this year!

Definitely not to be missed are Jarvis Cocker, Mike Leigh, Gore Vidal, Hanif Kureishi, Alex James of Blur, Manic Organic, Akram Khan Company with the National Ballet of China AND we really liked the look of Rider Spoke - off road theatre and you get to take your bike along!

So much to see and festival fringe program isn't out yet. May will undoubtedly be busier than ever for Brighton and we can't wait!

To encourage Londoners to visit during May, Southern will be running a special festival night train service with a train leaving Brighton at 23.19, so there's no excuse for missing out.

Read the full Brighton Magazine article for more details.

For a program of events see the Brighton Festival website.
Need a place to stay? Check out our list of Brighton hotels and accommodation.

Launch of Brighton Festival 2008

The Brighton Festival 2008 celebrates it's official launch party tomorrow at the Brighton Dome. This year the festival runs from 3rd - 25th May and as always promises a colourful schedule of events and surprises.

The city of Brighton and Hove has seen a rapid growth in hotel rooms this year and visitors will have a fantastic choice of places to stay during the festival.

The best of Brighton's new hotels

The last year has seen a rapid growth in the number of hotel rooms throughout the city, not only in the fashionable boutique market but also in larger corporate and conference hotels.

The notable new big players are:-
The Jurys Inn situated next to Brighton train station that recently held the successful Brighton Digital Jobs Fair and MyHotel, situated in the new Jubilee quarter.
If you're after something a bit different then new boutique hotels Snooze and The Greys, both in Kemp Town, are worth checking out.

And if these aren't up your street then there are plenty of other hotels in the city!

The last year has seen a rapid growth in the number of hotel rooms throughout the city, not only in the fashionable boutique market but also in larger corporate and conference hotels.

The notable new big players are:-
The Jurys Inn situated next to Brighton train station that recently held the successful Brighton Digital Jobs Fair and MyHotel, situated in the new Jubilee quarter.
If you're after something a bit different then new boutique hotels Snooze and The Greys, both in Kemp Town, are worth checking out.