Free & Low-Cost Activities

Brighton Festival 2024 runs from 4–26 May, with three week of magic, wonder and fun to be enjoyed by all. Almost 50 events have tickets available for £10 or under, and 20 events are completely free!

Join in the fun of the colourful Children’s Parade on opening weekend, or all ages can play and create at the interactive artwork 100 Miles of String. Step outside and enjoy free events at Without Walls, featuring dance, theatre, circus, music and art. Our Lunchtime concert series features classical stars of the future, with tickets just £10.

Take a look around Brighton Dome’s newly refurbished and restored Corn Exchange, Gallery Bar and Festival Bar. Our heritage volunteers are on hand to share stories about our past, whilst showing you around the present. 

Entry is FREE - Thu–Sat, 10am–5pm (please note, guided tours are available subject to events taking place, please enquire with a volunteer on arrival). 

We regularly offer Open Days at Brighton Dome, including Access Open Days, Heritage Open Day, Family Day Take Part and International Women’s Day. All open days are free to attend and offer many activities and workshops for free. Some open days include stalls which sell food or materials that require additional payment.

Access Open Days are designed for audiences who require access arrangements to find out more about what we offer at Brighton Dome, as well as being an opportunity to programme disabled and neurodivergent artists.

Heritage Open Day is run in conjunction with a national campaign and shines a light on the social, architectural and artistic history of Brighton Dome.

Family Day Take Part is produced in partnership with African Night Fever and other local multi-cultural organisations across the city including Writing Our Legacy and Believe in Me CIC for 2023. It is a day to celebrate multi-cultural arts and heritage.

The CAVATINA ticket scheme allows us to offer FREE tickets for ages 8–25 to world-class chamber music; enjoy our Sunday morning Coffee Concerts in the stunning Corn Exchange every month of our autumn–spring season.

Our Pay It Forward movement helps more people experience events at Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival. Originally developed as part of Brighton Festival 2017 under Guest Director Kae Tempest, Pay It Forward allows us to give a free ticket to someone who might not otherwise be able to attend. 

Pay It Forward tickets are offered to Our Place, local schools, charities and partner organisations. If you would like to contact us if you’re a charity and would like to get involved please email pif@brightonfestival.org, or if you part of an Our Place community, please contact your local steering group.

Create Music aims to break down barriers to music education by ensuring good value for money and keeping lesson and course fees as low as possible.

Families on low incomes are eligible for discounts on the price of group lessons, instrument hire and Music Centre membership. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we are also able to offer yearly bursary places, as well as discounts and bursaries to our annual Music Summer School. We also work with schools and our Hub partners to signpost families to additional sources of available support.

Orchestra360, our programme of inclusive ensembles for children and young people with SEND, offers free music activities in Brighton & Hove, Eastbourne, Rother and Wealden.

Each Easter and Summer we also work with local councils to offer Holiday Activity and Food courses across Brighton & Hove and East Sussex. Open to children that are eligible for free school meals, these free holiday activities give young people the opportunity to make music and to enjoy a healthy lunch.

We offer free development opportunities for local artists throughout the year. Inspired and hosted by our In-House Artists, AFLO. the poet and Erin Enfys, Long Table Lunches offer a space for artists and creatives to share and explore group provocations, while Script Reading / Writing sessions are an informal and supportive writing environment and give you the opportunity to share your work with peers.

Additionally, Creative Catch-ups, hosted by Ironclad Creative in partnership with Brighton Dome, are free, positive coffee morning networking spaces to bring creative communities together.

Brighton Dome’s brand-new dedicated creative space, Anita’s Room, is open for artists to experiment and create bold and courageous new work. Brighton Dome is currently accepting applications for week-long residencies from artists with a BN postcode.