Heritage Open Day
Together with Brighton Museum and Art Gallery we open our doors and invite you to dig into our past life and reveal our wartime history with free and fun activities for all ages including:
The Mayor’s Welcome 11am
Brighton Dome Café-Bar
Opening Welcome by the Mayor of Brighton & Hove Councillor Brian Fitch.
War Stories: Voices from the First World War 10am to 5pm
Brighton Museum Exhibition Galleries (First Floor)
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War this exhibition brings to life the wartime experiences of 13 people whose personal experiences and extraordinary stories reveal the impact of the war.
Hands on History 10.30am – 4.30pm
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery throughout the venue
Family activities about the First World War: try on costumes and have your photograph taken, make a dog-tag to take home, discover what life was like in for soldiers in the trenches, what food they ate and what weapons they used.
Children’s Creative Workshop 10.30am – 12.30pm & 1.00pm – 4.30pm
Brighton Museum Art Room (Ground Floor)
Have fun making and playing with toys that were popular with children 100 years ago. Make a cup & ball or a peg doll, look at pages from a comic of the period and make your own flick or scrap book and play old-fashioned games like skittles and spinning tops.
Spoken Voices from the First World War 2.00 & 3.00pm (10 minutes)
War Stories Exhibition Gallery (First Floor Gallery Three)
Hear short readings of poetry and prose
WAR STORIES
performed by actors. Look out for costumed characters in the Museum and Brighton Dome!
Pavilion Blues 10.30am – 2.30pm
Brighton Museum War Stories
Information & Activity Zone (First Floor)
Join Andy Maxted, Collections Project Curator and find out about the Royal Pavilion Estate’s use as a Hospital for Limbless Men between 1916 and 1920. See real prosthetic limbs from the period and discover how the men rehabilitated by writing their own hospital magazine The Pavilion Blues, copies of which can be seen.
Tales of the Pavilion Hospital 11am-2pm
Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
Join Kevin Bacon, Digital Development Officer, and developer of Say Digital for a preview of our exciting new website Tales of the Pavilion Hospital. They will use the creative voices of young people in the City to tell the stories of the Royal Pavilion Estate’s history as a military hospital during the First World War.
Blind Veterans UK 10.30am – 4.30pm
War Stories Information & Activity Zone
(first floor Brighton Museum)
Find out about the charity that started as St Dunstan’s in 1915 caring for those who lost their vision in the First World War and still cares for Forces veterans today. Meet veterans and take part in family-friendly activities.
St John Ambulance 10.30am –4.30pm
War Stories Information & Activity Zone (first floor Brighton Museum)
Meet Brighton Cadets and find out how St John Ambulance played a signifi cant part in providing medical care for causalities of the First World War.
Brighton & Hove Black History 10.30am – 4.30pm
War Stories Information & Activity Zone
(first floor Brighton Museum)
Find out about the history of Asian, African and African Caribbean people and their contribution during the First World War. Brighton and Hove Black History Project seeks to reveal Brighton and Hove hidden past and helps local people get involved in mapping their own local history.
Major Hugo Armitage 11.00am-12.30 & 2.00-4.00pm
War Stories Information & Activity Zone (first floor Brighton Museum)
Meet a uniformed descendent of one of the First World War’s Tank Corps pioneers and find out about the First World War’s new fighting machine.
The 15th Ludhiana Sikh Regiment 10.30am- 4.30pm
War Stories Information & Activity Zone(first floor Brighton Museum) and through venues. Look out for men in the uniform of the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs, an Indian Army infantry regiment that served on the Western Front in France and the Mesopotamian Campaign in Egypt during the First World War.
Your War Stories 10.30am –12.45pm & 1.45pm- 3.00pm
Brighton Museum Link Room (mid-way up the main stairs)
Do you have a First World War story to tell? As part of a commemorative video project, visitors are invited to share objects and stories about their family and the First World War. Come along and sign up to take part in an audio interview and have your photograph taken that will appear in an online digital slide show.
The Haywards Heath U3A Choir 12.00pm & 2.00pm
Brighton Museum South Balcony
The Haywards Heath U3A Choir under the direction of Peter Gacsallwill be singing a selection of songs from the First World War period including The Road to Mandalay and Keep the Home Fires Burning.
Military Ancestry Research Panel 10.30am – 4.30pm
Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
Do you have a First World War ancestor but know little about his or her military service? If so join a panel of military historians analyse and identify photos, uniforms, medals & letters and investigate your questions about your personal First World War heritage. The panel consists of military historian Mark Kahn, who specialises in WW1 to current military history and has made a number of BBC appearances, Steve Hookins a curator of Firepower at the Royal Artillery Museum and Geoff Bridger WW1 historian, author of The Great War Handbook and other publications and researcher & member of the Western Front Association.
Brighton Toy Museum 11.30am – 4pm
Brighton Dome Café-Bar
Brighton Toy and Model Museum, hidden under Brighton Station in the Victorian railway arches, is proud to host an HLF lottery award project recording Brighton and Hove residents’ memories of dolls, bears, and construction toys. Visit our stall for more information about our ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of model railway and vintage toys, WW1 tribute exhibition and community oral history project.
Paper the Pavilion 3pm – 4.30pm
Founders Room
Join local artist Julie Kuyath for a mixed media workshop in which children will be guided into creating an original collage art piece of Brighton’s magnificent Royal Pavilion. Participates will be provided with a stencil motif of the Pavilion, and encouraged to use their imagination or memory to decorate the image by tearing and sticking recycled paper from magazines and newspapers. (Event not suitable for children under the age of 6)
Treasure Hunt 10.30am – 4.30pm
Brighton Dome Café bar
Brighton Dome and Museum staff invite you to take part in our Heritage Treasure Hunt for all the family. We help you to get close up and personal with our unique buildings And to have fun along the way - there is even a tiny prize for everyone! Collect your treasure hunt sheets from the Brighton Dome information desk in the West Corridor.
Backstage Tours 11am, 12pm, 1pm and 2pm (prebooked) 3pm (drop in tour sign up West Corridor) Meet at Door 2
Backstage Tours to explore Brighton Dome and its hidden histories throughout the day. Limited numbers, please collect your free ticket from our Ticket Office on New Road.
Magic Lantern with Jeremy Brooker 11am, 12pm, 1pm and 2pm
Corn Exchange Foyer
Look out for our Magic Lantern shows throughout the day. An extraordinary opportunity to visit the past through the lens of early technology!
My Memories 10.30am – 4.30pm
Information Desk, Brighton Dome West Corridor
Brighton Dome staff want to hear your personal stories. Did you perform on our stage as a child, meet your partner dancing to Douglas Reeves on the organ or come to a performance that was so memorable that you would love to tell us about it? We would love to hear from you as we build up our archive of tales from artists and audiences past to be told in the future. Ask at the Brighton Dome information desk in the West Corridor to be directed to the My Memories team.
Playmakes 11am – 4pm
Brighton Dome Founder’s Room
Come and make a First World War carrier pigeon and secret message with Hanna Boal. Gateways to the First World War
The University of Brighton and its partners are supporting public interest in the centenary of the First World War through events and activities. If you are a group or organisation developing a centenary project Gateways would like to hear from you. Visit the Gateways stand and find out more.
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