Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival

It's time to introduce another of our guest bloggers. This week I'm going to hand you over to Paula Seager from Natural PR so that she can give your her top tips of what to look out for during this year's Food and Drink Festival. But before we start here's a picture of Paula with some chickens:

Food lovers world-wide should take a look at this year’s programme of succulent events at the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival 2009. It is a huge foodie community event, bringing together Sussex food and drink producers, restaurateurs, market traders, performing artists and just plain old good cooks in their homes ... believe it or not! This year’s festival will include for the first time an ‘Open House Dining’ event for foodies in the style of TV programme ‘Come Dine with Me’, with local people throwing open their doors to invite in paying guests to eat scrumptious dinners, serving up the best of Sussex produce.

Every single weekend of September, there will be a public foodie or drinkie event to tantalise the taste buds – most of them free! The first big one will be on Saturday 5th September – the Brighton Station Wine Festival – held under the arches at the top of Trafalgar Street. Look out for the bunting and outdoor tasting tables where experts from top vineyards will give guided pourings of some of the best wines from around the world from 11am.

The Taste of Sussex Weekend on 12th and 13th September along New Road and Jubilee Street will again be the central event of the festival, providing the largest Sussex food market in the county, this year enhanced with a new-style Live Food Show with top chefs’ demonstrations in Jubilee Square and a special Children’s Food Festival in the Royal Pavilion Gardens.

The next weekend will hold spicy treasures for the bold in Victoria Gardens with Fiery Food UK – a market and fun & games focused on the hottest chillies in the world. Festival-goers can also buy tickets for the Chocolate Trail offering six deliciously faultless chocolate-based experiences from six Brighton establishments that really do know how to ‘create’ with chocolate.

The Great Food Debate will this year focus on whether a city can feed itself and another exciting newcomer to the line up this year will be the ‘Big Brighton & Hove People’s Picnic’ running alongside the ‘Sussex and the World Food Market’ on Hove Lawns on the last weekend of the month – inviting families to bring their picnics and enjoy a huge get together by the sea.

The festival will also be promoting the Sussex Food & Drink Awards, celebrating the county’s wonderful producers, where the public’s vote counts at www.sussexfoodawards.com and supporting the Sussex Breakfast scheme, encouraging local restaurants and hotels to serve local produce.

The Festival has teamed up with City College Brighton & Hove’s catering department and restaurant to pay tribute to some of the best restaurants in the city, including Hotel du Vin, Terre a Terre and Oki Nami. It will also hold a special lunch for the city to honour the great food writer and extremely special local citizen, Marguerite Patten OBE. And there are a whole load of fringe foodie events to enjoy. To find out about the latest festival event details, see www.brightonfoodfestival.co.uk

Glasses are no longer just for geeks

Last week it was the first anniversary of Frames in the Lanes a superb boutique style emporium of designer eye wear offering a fabulous range of glasses and sunglasses in Meeting House Lane. And apart from doing the usual drinks and nibbles they decided to mark the anniversary by hosting a competition to find the Face of Frames in the Lanes and the winner was announced during the celebrations.

The Judges, including our very own Richard, were sent photos of the runners-up prior to the event to narrow down the choice and the final winner was decided on the evening. Of course as Richard received the images while at work we all had to chip in with our own opinions which I doubt he found very helpful but he really should be used to it by now!

On the night it was announced that the winner was Alex Button, who the Judges unanimously felt best suited his glasses out of any of the finalists, although it was a very tough decision with so many strong contenders.



Alex won a set of designer spectacle frames from Booth & Bruce, a day's treatment at Spruce in Kemp Town, a pair of prescription sunglasses that can be chosen from a selection in the shop and free eye tests for Alex and up to six friends or family. Crikey! I'm kicking myself for not entering now although would have been a bit awkward with Richard being one of the judges though...

So if you fancy updating your look then visit Frames in the Lanes which is run by Bernadatte and Freya who are passionate about their products and offer an excellent service, their choice of frames is really unique and offer something completely different from the usual high-street opticians.

Charlotte

The Big Roll - Orb360 meets Kiya Survivors...

Fancy raising money for charity whilst rolling down a hill? Sponsored runs are SO last year!?

The Big Roll at Devil's Dyke

The lovely chaps at Orb360 are joining forces with local charity Kiya Survivors on Saturday 5th September for a special, thrill seeking fundraising event: THE BIG ROLL at Devil’s Dyke in Brighton.

While spinning head over heels down the Dyke at speeds of 30mph, everyone who joins The Big Roll will help to raise invaluable funds for the charity’s educational centres in Peru. With the Orb-run being the longest in the country at half a mile long, and the stunning location overlooking Brighton and the South Downs, this is a once in a lifetime, feel-good experience.

Have a great day out and help disadvantaged kids at the same time!

All money raised from the event will go directly to the educational centres in Peru that Kiya Survivors builds and supports for special-needs, abused and abandoned children. The educational centres are vital to Kiya’s work and urgently need funds to continue running.

‘Rollers’ need to raise just a minimum of £100 each in sponsorship to take part on the day. Participants can then roll for free, have a unique day out and raise money for a very worthy cause. Water lovers can choose the Aqua-Orbs, where two people and 50 litres of splashing water roll down the Aqua-slide.

Relax in the Orb-Shack

The iconic Orb-Shack provides shade and music where you can enjoy a drink and some food, and take in the view while watching friends spin down the Dyke.

The Big Roll will take place from 12.00-4.00pm. The minimum height is 1.5 metres and maximum weight is 15.5 stone to participate.

To sign up or for more information please contact Pip Emmott at Kiya Survivors on 01273 721092 or on pip@kiyasurvivors.org.

Hope to see you there!

Find out more about the Big Roll.

Find out more about ORB360 and BOARD360.

Sarah
VisitBrighton

Win film goodies at Brighton Duke of Yorks

Love film?

Brighton's Duke of York's Picturehouse is one of the true gems of the city. Offering a great mix of main and arthouse movies, comfy seats, funky in-house bar and arguably the best thing of all - 12 varieties of fabulous, homemade cakes - The Dukes is the oldest working cinema in Britain.

And to celebrate the new Tarantino film 'Inglourious Basterds' the peeps at the Dukes are giving away some fab film memorabilia goodies, including:

• Film poster sheet - 4 character
• Official bag
• Official male and female T shirt
• Official caps.

For a chance to win, all you need to do is email dukeofyorks@picturehouses.co.uk
and pop 'INGLORIOUS BASTERDS' in the subject line.

Winners will be contacted via email by 28 August. Closing date 27 August.

And if you want to catch the film, starring Brad Pitt, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS (18) is playing at the Duke of York's Picturehouse from 21-27 August.

Find out more about Brighton Duke of Yorks or visit their official website for forthcoming films and events.

Sarah
VisitBrighton

Bobby Wellins at Brighton Museum

Like Jazz?

For the final weekend of The American Scene at Brighton Museum, legendary tenor sax player Bobby Wellins will be playing as part of a afternoon jazz trio.

Well known in the heady world of jazz, Bobby Wellins is a Scottish Tenor Saxophinist, best known for his collaboration with Stan Tracey on the seminal 1965 British jazz album Under Milk Wood.

The jazz event takes place at Brighton Museum on Sunday 30 August at 2.20pm & 3.30pm

What's more - it's FREE!

The American Scene

There's still time to catch The American Scene at Brighton Museum too. A stunning exhibition featuring around 80 outstanding prints by 56 leading modern American artists, works include art by George Bellows, Edward Hopper, Grant Wood, Joseph Albers, Alexander Calder, Louise Bougeois and Jackson Pollock.

Sarah
VisitBrighton

Image - Robert Gwathmey The Hitchhiker , Screenprint 1937. Courtesy of Brighton Museum and Art Gallery.

Kiya Uncovered - Kiya Survivors Charity Photo Exhibition

Like photos? Want to help a local, Brighton based charity?

Kiya Uncovered’ is a photography exhibition and fundraising event hosted by Peruvian childrens’ charity, Kiya Survivors, at the Naked Eye gallery in Hove. The opening night takes place on Friday 14th August from 6-9pm and launches the week long photography exhibition. Admission is free and everyone is welcome. 

Please RSVP to events@kiyasurvivors.org or just pop along on the night.

While nibbling on delicious food provided by Graze, guests will be treated to a colourful collection of photos of the children, families and teachers supported by the Rainbow Centre, one of Kiya Survivors’ educational centres, in Urubamba, Peru. Many of the photos were taken by Brighton-resident Sarah Baker, who volunteered with Kiya Survivors in 2004. 

Kiya Survivors, a registered UK charity based in Hove, provides support and education for children with special needs in Peru and was started 9 years ago by a Brighton resident who witnessed the plight of the children whilst in South America. The ‘Kiya Uncovered’ exhibition will give a visual tour of the charity’s work and raise funds through an evening of photos and fun in true Latin style.

Find out more on the Kiya Uncovered event website or on VisitBrighton events.

Family fun in Brighton

Ordinarily I am probably the least likely person to write a family themed blog post as you'd more likely find me talking about an upcoming music or comedy event. However there are two family events coming up which caught my eye...

The first one is a Fairy Tale puppet show this Sunday as the Brighton Toy & Model Museum present Elfin Grove's production of the classic Brother's Grimm Fairy Tale - 'The Queen Bee'. The production will include a live musician and there will be two showings on Sunday 16th August, one at 11.30am and another at 2.30pm. Tickets cost £5 and are available to buy at the museum.

The other event which caught my attention was the fact that throughout August you can play croquet at Preston Manor but not just ordinary croquet but Alice in Wonderland style with flamingo mallets and playing card hoops! It is £10 per person and please book in advance for a 2 hour slot.

I could pretend that I wanted to write about the above events purely because of their literary connections but it's probably got more to do with the fact that it's a good excuse to show a clip of the classic Disney version of Alice in Wonderland:



Charlotte

Brighton Mods Weekender

The fact that FIVE national press newspapers, including The Times, have jumped at the chance to come along to our Mods Weekender Press Trip made me realise the massive draw Brighton still has around the whole Mods and Rockers vibe.

The city is full of history around the Mods era -from 'Quadrophenia Alley' in the Laines, which is a mecca for Mods worldwide who regularly visit the alley in recognition of its appearance in a key scene in the film Quadrophenia, to the shop Jump the Gun - a Mods shop which is practically part of the fabric of Brighton it has been there so long - Brighton oozes a sense of Mod culture from every nook and cranny.

From scooter runs to Mod Weekenders
The scooter run is an annual event as well of course and now Brighton also features a regular Mods Weekender event. Taking place over the August Bank Holiday, the Brighton Mod Weekender sees Vespa and Lambretta riding Mods from all over the UK and beyond return to their spiritual home for an action packed weekend, forty plus years since the original modernists set foot on the East Sussex seaside resort back in 1964.

So if you want to take part in a seminal piece of pop culture in the UK's seminal city by the sea, check out the Mod Weekender in Brighton this August Bank Holiday for some authentic Mod action.

Check out the official Mods Weekender website for more details.

Sarah
VisitBrighton

Brighton Pride

Just a quick note to say a big congratulations to everyone who was involved with this year's Pride festival. Apparently there were between 150 - 160,000 people joining in with the festivities.

However an extra special hoorah, hooray and whoop of congratulations to Brighton Gay Men's Chorus who won the award for the best float. We were particularly pleased as our colleague Richard helped to decorate the float and VisitBrighton sponsored it. In actual fact it was probably thanks to our logo appearing on the float that it won rather than all the hours spent by Richard and the guys painting and decorating it ;)

Here are a couple of shots of the winning float:


Charlotte