Kate Tempest will be next year's Brighton Festival guest director

Brighton Festival 2017

Saturday 6th to Sunday 28th May 2017
various venues, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1UE, England MAP
various ticket prices on sale from Fri 24th Feb, plus FREE outdoor events

Daily capacity: 20,000

Last updated: Thu 16th Feb 2017

Kate Tempest will be Brighton Festival's guest director, who takes the helm of the annual showcase for theatre, music, dance, performance and books, from both local and international artists from Saturday 6th to Sunday 28th May 2017.

Over the three-week Festival many of the guest director’s interests and passions will be explored in a wide-ranging programme which spans music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, literature and debate from a wide range of national and international companies and artists.

At 31, the recording artist, poet, playwright and novelist will be the youngest Brighton Festival guest director to date, taking the mantle from pioneering artist and musician Laurie Anderson, who led the 50th Brighton Festival this year.

Other previous Guest Directors include visual artist Anish Kapoor (2009), musician Brian Eno (2010) and Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (2011) who have all taken turns shaping the three-week programme of cultural events. Her new album 'Let Them Eat Chaos' will be released next month through Fiction Records.

Kate Tempest said, "The arts should be social, not elitist. They should be part of our everyday life. They should be in our communities, not only on elevated platforms or behind red velvet ropes. Music, literature, theatre, film - these things are so important, they bring us together into the same space, they give us ourselves, they bring us to life, they beam our humanity back to us in all its hideous beauty. And in these times, with the fear spreading everywhere and the divisions between us deepening daily, we desperately need to remember that we are all part of the same thing. Nothing does that for me more profoundly or joyously than standing in the crowd watching a gig, or a play, or a painting. It's like a little victory you get to keep forever. I want us to offer that experience to everyone."

Tempest's appointment as Guest Director follows a number of appearances at Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival. After her play Wasted sold out Brighton Festival 2012, Tempest performed Brand New Ancients to two full houses in the Corn Exchange as part of Brighton Dome's spring 2014 programme. In 2015 she headlined an exclusive Brighton Festival event alongside fellow wordsmiths George the Poet and Hollie McNish.

Andrew Comben, Chief Executive of Brighton Festival, now in its 51st year, added, "We are privileged to announce such a distinctive and singular talent as our Guest Director for Brighton Festival 2017. Kate Tempest is uniquely positioned to fulfil the role – her seemingly limitless creativity has led to a body of work that straddles an extraordinary array of art forms and has earned her fans of all ages and from all walks of life. She is also passionate about the arts and its power to bring communities together – vital now more than ever. I can't wait to continue the conversations with her as we work towards creating a Festival for next year which I hope will be a true inspiration to all."

Throughout three weeks of entertainment the festival aims to bring great art to Brighton, and to harness the creative energy of the city to make great new art of its own. Other events include a full programme of visual arts & film, books and debate, classical music, dance & circus, programming for children, lunchtime concerts, outdoor events, and theatre.

Ticket prices vary depending on events, many of them are free. Tickets are not yet on sale. Full programme details will be announced in February 2017.

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