Festival
The Floral Fringe Fair
This eclectic fair features more than 100 stalls of vintage gear, plus forest bathing, classic cars, music, dancing and good food – with festivalgoers encouraged to follow the dress-up themes of steampunk, vintage or simply a great hat...
Loxwood Meadow and Woodland, Loxwood, August 31-September 1, 10.30am-5pm, from £10, £2.50 children, floralfringefair.co.uk
Musical
Here You Come Again
This new Dolly Parton-approved musical, coming to Brighton ahead of a West End run, follows the story of a diehard Dolly fan and how her music gets him through hard times. It has been adapted for a UK audience by Coronation Street and Gimme Gimme Gimme writer and playwright Jonathan Harvey.
Theatre Royal Brighton, September 3-7, 7.30pm, 2.30pm matinees on Thurs and Sat, from £13
Festival
Goodwood Revival
The West Sussex estate turns the clock back once more for a long weekend of vintage racing and period fashion, with everyone encouraged to dress up. This year the event is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Jaguar XK engine, so expect to see some British classics hit the circuit.
Goodwood Motor Circuit, September 6-8, from £80
Family
Heritage Open Days
Private historical dwellings and landmarks across the county will be opening their doors for the annual chance to peek behind the gates. At the time of writing those venues taking part for 2024 include Alfriston Clergy House, Winchelsea’s Wesley Methodist Chapel, Alexandra Greenhouse in Hastings and the stunning Coastguard Cottages in Seaford.
Across Sussex, September 6-15, various venues and times, free, heritageopendays.org.uk
Festival
Into The Trees
Live music, an art trail, street food and crafts and wellbeing workshops are all on offer in the heart of Ashdown Forest in this tranquil family-friendly festival.
Pippingford Park, Nutley, September 6-8, from 2pm Friday for campers, open for day ticket holders 10am-5pm Sat/Sun, day passes from £20, £15 children, camping from £65, £40 children, into-the-trees.co.uk
Walking Festival
High Weald Walking Festival
For the seventh year, the walking festival is offering a range of free guided and self-guided walks across the National Landscape, incorporating some of its 2,500km of public rights of way. The festival programme went live on Friday, August 16, so check out the website to book walk places – although many slots are available on the day.
Across the High Weald National Landscape, September 7-15, various times, free, highweald.org
Music
Dawn Landes
North Carolina’s Dawn Landes has worked with the likes of Sufjan Stevens and Norah Jones, and her music has soundtracked Gossip Girl, The Good Wife and House. Her latest project, The Liberated Woman’s Songbook, is an album of folk songs tracing women’s activism from the 1800s through to Women’s Lib in the 1970s.
Komedia, Brighton, Sunday, September 8, 8pm, £15, meltingvinyl.co.uk
Talk
Tim Peake: Astronauts - The Quest to Explore Space
He’s flown higher than any Saxon before him – and now Chichester’s own Tim Peake is coming home to talk about his fellow astronaut pioneers.
Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Sunday, September 8, 2pm and 7.30pm, from £24.75, brightondome.org
Music
Kiiōtō
Formerly one half of folk-electronica duo Lamb, Lou Rhodes received a Mercury Music Prize nomination for her first solo album Beloved One in 2006. Now she’s launched a new project, Kiiōtō, featuring fellow songwriter Rohan Heath from Urban Cookie Collective. Their debut album As Dust We Rise mixes acoustic stylings with poetic lyrics.
The Old Market, Hove, Tuesday, September 10, doors 7.30pm, £16, theoldmarket.com
Talk
Toad on the Road: An Evening with Neighbours’ Ryan Moloney
Anyone who returned to the ‘final’ Neighbours episodes on Channel 5 will probably have struggled to recognise many of the non-guest stars in the soap’s cast – aside from Ryan Moloney who has played the lovable Toadfish for 28 years. Here he tells behind-the-scenes stories and explores his character’s journey from troubled teen to lawyer.
Pavilion Theatre, Worthing, Tuesday, September 10, 7.30pm, £33, wtm.uk
Music
Marc Almond
The voice of Soft Cell has enjoyed a successful solo career for the past four decades, taking in working with Trevor Horn, hitting number one with Gene Pitney and reinterpreting the works of Jacques Brel. Plus in Tainted Life Marc penned one of the all-time great music autobiographies. This tour is in support of latest covers album I’m Not Anyone.
Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Wednesday, September 11, doors 7pm, from £39, brightondome.org
Comedy
Ed Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time
Best known for his observational style – from tearing apart trite song lyrics to questioning the latest government policy on Mock the Week - Ed Byrne is touring his most personal show to date, based around the loss of his brother. Also at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, on Thursday, September 12.
Chequer Mead Theatre, East Grinstead, Wednesday, September 11, 7.30pm, £34, chequermead.co.uk
Theatre
Barista The Musical
Strictly Come Dancing’s own Pasha Kovalev has choreographed this brand-new musical by Sussex-based husband and wife team Nigel and Anna Newman receiving its world premiere in Horsham. Barista follows an ambitious young Colombian woman who moves to England to study and ends up working part-time in a struggling cafe. She helps change the business, but finds herself plagued by nightmares about her family and her past.
Capitol Theatre, Horsham, September 12-21, 7.30pm (5pm Sun, not Mon), 2.30pm matinees, from £35, thecapitolhorsham.com
Theatre
Vagabond Skies: The Van Gogh Musical
Penned by Eastbourne’s Tony Norman and Mark Edwards, Vagabond Skies tells the story of Vincent Van Gogh’s troubled life – where the man now regarded as a genius on the canvas was seen in his lifetime as a madman. Much of Vincent’s own words from his letters to his brother Theo have been woven into the lyrics.
Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, September 12-14, 7.30pm, 2.30pm Thurs and Sat, from £25, eastbournetheatres.co.uk
Theatre
Lord of the Dance
Following the international success of Riverdance, dancer and choreographer Michael Flatley launched his own show Lord of the Dance, which marked its 25th anniversary in 2022. It has now performed in front of 60 million people across 60 countries, helping bring Irish dance to the wider world.
Congress Theatre, Eastbourne, September 13-15, 7.45pm, 2.30pm Sat, 2pm Sun, from £38.50, eastbournetheatres.co.uk
Festival
Made By Hand: Heritage Crafts and Skills Weekend
The home of BBC’s The Repair Shop celebrates the skills that are in danger of being lost forever in this weekend showcasing the work of members of the Heritage Craft Association.
Weald and Downland Living Museum, September 14-15, 10am-5pm, from £15.50, £7.50 children, wealddown.co.uk
Musical
An Officer and a Gentleman the Musical
A soundtrack of 1980s classics scores this stage remake of the 1982 film romance that starred Richard Gere and Debra Winger. Zack Mayo is a fearless young officer candidate, who may have met his match in the fiery Paula Pokrifki.
Congress Theatre, Eastbourne, September 17-21, 7.30pm, 2.30pm Thurs and Sat, from £26.50, eastbournetheatres.co.uk
Cabaret
Danny Beard: Straight Expectations
Winner of the 2022 series of Rupaul’s Drag Race UK, Danny Beard is bringing their live band to the Komedia basement for a night of music, comedy and putdowns. The host of BBC Three’s The After Shave and former semi-finalist on Britain’s Got Talent will explore what life is really like as a Z-list celebrity. Drag Race fans should also look out for US winner Bianca Del Rio coming to Bexhill’s De La Warr Pavilion on Wednesday, September 25.
Komedia, Brighton, Thursday, September 19, 8pm, £22, komedia.co.uk/brighton
Art exhibition
Brighton Art Fair
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Brighton Art Fair has more than 100 UK exhibitors displaying paintings, photography, prints, 3D and mixed media works. The fair features works for sale ranging from £100 to £5,000, with showcases by Sussex artists including Steve Gallagher, Rachel Stedman, Laura Darling, Matthew Cordwell, Ruth Waters and Faye Bridgwater.
Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, September 19-22, Thurs preview 6pm-8pm, £15, Fri-Sun 10.30am-5pm, from £7.50, brightonartfair.co.uk
Music
Groove Armada
The duo behind massive hits I See You Baby and At the River take to the decks for this one-off appearance transforming the main room at White Rock into a nightclub.
White Rock, Hastings, Friday, September 20, 7.30pm, from £29.45, whiterocktheatre.org.uk
Comedy
Russell Kane
Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comic Russell Kane has been pretty much inescapable since breaking through in the mid-Noughties. As well as the usual round of comedy panel shows and live recordings, he’s also been a regular presenter on Steph’s Packed Lunch and hosted Big Brother’s Big Mouth and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Now. Perhaps it’s not surprising this tour is called Hyperactive.
The Hawth, Crawley, Friday, September 20, 8pm, £33.50, parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/the-hawth
Theatre
Redlands
‘Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?’ asked William Rees-Mogg when Rolling Stone Mick Jagger was imprisoned for drug offences following a party at bandmate Keith Richards’ titular Chichester home. This new play by Charlotte Jones re-examines the court case, when the establishment trained its guns on the most infamous rock group of the 1960s.
Chichester Festival Theatre, September 20-October 18, 7.30pm, 2.30pm matinees, from £10, cft.org.uk
Exhibition
Immortal Apples, Eternal Eggs
Taking its name from a Virginia Woolf quote, this new exhibition draws together more than 50 artworks from over the past 100 years focusing on different approaches to still life. Among the featured artists, drawn from The Ingram and the David and Indre Roberts Collections, are Phyllida Barlow, Louise Bourgeois, Sir Anthony Caro, Patrick Caulfield, Michael Craig-Martin, Dame Elisabeth Frink, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson and Sarah Lucas.
Hastings Contemporary, September 21-March 16, Wed-Sun 11am-5pm, from £10, under-16s free, hastingscontemporary.org
Jazz
Jo Harrop
One of the best-kept secrets in Brighton is this basement club off Edward Street, which has been entertaining jazz fans for the past 12 years. Modern jazz singer Jo Harrop is dropping in to promote new album The Path Of A Tear, which mixes 1970s soul and Americana influences.
The Verdict Jazz Club, Brighton, Saturday, September 21, 7.30pm, from £14.25, verdictjazz.com
Music
An Evening with Richard Carpenter
Together with ‘lead sister’ Karen, Richard Carpenter caused a kind of hush all over the world with the Carpenters’ multi-platinum-selling singles. Hits included their interpretations of Burt Bacharach’s (They Long to Be) Close to You and Paul Williams’ Rainy Days and Mondays to Richard’s own compositions Top of the World and Yesterday Once More. Now Richard will both perform and tell the stories behind the pair’s biggest successes.
Assembly Hall, Worthing, Saturday, September 21, 7pm, from £57, wtm.uk
Exhibition
A New Roman Landscape
Discover the story behind the Culver Archaeology Project, which since 2005 has unearthed a Roman villa, road system and substantial Sussex town. Look out for more recent history at the museum with an examination of Worthing’s Edwardian Legacy from September 28-March 2.
Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, September 21-January 12, Wed-Sat 10am-5pm (8pm Thurs), Sun 11am-3pm, free, wtm.uk
Festival
The South of England Autumn Show and Horse Trials
Traditional country sports and activities – from sheep-shearing and falconry to fruit and vegetable competitions and dog displays – combine with the South of England Horse Trials, featuring some of the country’s best riders competing in British Eventing national classes.
South of England Showground, Ardingly, September 21-22, 9am-5pm, £13.50, under 16s free, seas.org.uk/autumn-show
Talk
Michael Palin - There and Back
He made his name with Monty Python, became a film star and then travelled the world, as described in his first three volumes of diaries. Now Michael Palin’s fourth set of published diaries, from 1999-2009, see him heading into middle age, taking in more international adventures, the horrors of 9/11 and the Iraq War and Michael’s own presidency of the Royal Geographical Society.
Theatre Royal Brighton, Saturday, September 21, 7.30pm, from £45.71
Exhibitions
Mike Silva and Callum Hill
There are two new exhibitions in De La Warr’s gallery spaces this month. The first is by Sweden-born Mike Silva in his first solo show, whose work explores his archive of photographs to create portraits, interiors and still lifes featuring friends, acquaintances and former lovers. On the first floor is a major new film work by Canadian Callum Hill, which has been commissioned by the venue and the Canada Council for the Arts.
De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, September 21-January 19, 10am-5pm, free, dlwp.com
Classical
Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra: The Rite of Spring
To mark the launch of its centenary season, Brighton’s own orchestra is performing Stravinsky’s riot-inspiring ballet score, conducted by musical director Joanna MacGregor. Also on the bill is Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1 with soloist Aidan Mikdad. Expect more fireworks as the season continues.
Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Sunday, September 22, 2.45pm, from £13, brightondome.org
Cinema music
Blade Runner Live
Ridley Scott’s sci-fi masterpiece was a flop when it was first released in its initial studio-butchered version, but it is now regarded as a classic. This screening of the director’s 2007 Final Cut will be accompanied by a live performance of Vangelis’ synth-led score by the Avex Ensemble.
Brighton Centre, Monday, September 23, doors 6.30pm, see website for prices, brightoncentre.co.uk
Magic
El Mistico
A pair of top magicians join forces for this double bill show, opening with sleight-of-hand master and mind-reader Angus Baskerville, with stage hypnotist Poldark taking over the second half.
The Old Market, Hove, Thursday, September 26, doors 6.45pm, £21, theoldmarket.com
Cabaret
An Evening of Burlesque
Comedy, music, circus and burlesque combine in this long-running touring show.
The Hawth, Crawley, Friday, September 27, 7.30pm, £31.50, parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/the-hawth
Talk
An Audience with Robert Lindsay
Having begun his career fighting for Tooting’s freedom in Citizen Smith, Robert Lindsay has enjoyed a varied stage and screen career, taking in the cosy comedy of My Family, the political drama of Alan Bleasdale’s GBH and the song and dance of Me and My Girl. In this personal appearance he will tell stories about his most iconic BAFTA, Olivier and Tony-winning roles.
Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, Friday, September 27, 7.30pm, from £32.50, brightondome.org
Theatre
The Cat and the Canary
Best known as a big screen Bob Hope comedy vehicle, John Willard’s creepy play is based around the classic trope of the descendants of a dead millionaire gathering in a remote mansion to discover who is his chosen heir. As a storm rages, news comes through that a dangerous inmate from a nearby asylum has broken out... This co-production with Told By An Idiot stars Will Merrick of Dead Pixels and Skins.
Minerva Theatre, Chichester, September 27-October 26, 7.15pm, 2.15pm matinees, from £10, cft.org.uk
Theatre
Hairspray: The Musical
Who would have thought that a musical based on a 1988 movie by the so-called Pope of Trash John Waters would become an international hit? Documenting the rise of rock and roll and the civil rights movement in a pre-Beatles era Baltimore, this touring version stars Strictly Come Dancing professional Joanne Clifton as Velma von Tussle, with Neil Hurst taking on Edna Turnblad’s outrageous costumes and Gorillaz vocalist Michelle Ndegwa making her professional stage debut as Motormouth Maybelle.
Theatre Royal Brighton, September 30-October 5, 7.30pm, 2.30pm matinees Thurs and Sat, from £13
