Elephants in Brighton

No that isn't a misprint, we have actually spotted a herd of Elephants in Brighton ... well obviously not real ones as I am pretty certain that would convene some kind of health and safety regulation. These are life-sized topiary elephants who have taken up residence in the Royal Pavilion Gardens until Tuesday 30th September

The Elephants have been on tour around the UK and Ireland raising awareness of the fact that Asian elephants are being marooned as trees are felled to make way for roads, railways, villages and industry. The suggestion is to build an elephant corridor that would connect habitable areas to help keep herds together.


Brighton is the last stop on their tour, although I think they look great and would love to keep them here after all these are Asian elephants and the Royal Pavilion does have an Indian design so I'm sure they'd be happy here :) Anyway pop down and visit them while you can



Charlotte

Winter in Brighton

I'm sorry I have been rather neglecting you all recently, the reason for this is that we have been working on a lovely Winter Guide, mainly telling people about the fantastic events happening between October - December but also including information about staying in Brighton & Hove, eating and drinking, shopping as well as a handy map and events diary.

So this week we have been busy proof-reading and fact checking, debating over whether each apostrophe was in the right place and that sort of thing. Fingers crossed we have spotted everything but it is always possible that something has slipped through the net. Anyway I've very excited about it and think the finished product will be fabulous. You'll have to wait until October to see the finished article, they will be appearing in visitor information centres across the South East as well as in train stations and workplaces in London. Although we wouldn't want anyone to feel left out so there will be an online version for people to download as well.

However I think it is safe for me to give you a sneak preview of the front cover as at least then you will know what to look out for!


Hope you like it, although being honest I don't actually want to know if you don't! Anyway that is it for now although I will be back tomorrow to tell you what has been stampeding across the Royal Pavilion Gardens...

Charlotte

Get your knitting needles ready...

Working in Marketing I receive quite a few press releases, and having worked here a couple of years you kind of know what to expect, for example I've had some recently about the Early Music Festival and the Art Fair. However sometimes one will come through that surprises you, as I have just learnt that in October it is knitting week!

Although this isn't good enough for Hove, no we are so excitied about it that we are going to have a whole knitting month! Didn't I tell you we always like to do things differently here. Apparently one in five people can knit, I remember Grandma trying to teach me years ago but I'm not sure if I'd be able to now, although that does mean a couple of people in this office should be able to.

In order to celebrate the Hove Museum will have a host of events and workshops for beginners, novices and experts so they'll be something to suit you whether you've never picked up a needle before or if you never leave the house without one. There will also be some exhibits to inspire you, including knitted fruit and vegetables made by the local Stitch 'n' Bitch group as well as this knitted coral reef by Ildiko Szabo:

Which reminds me to add that it is currently the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival and this weekend they have the Live Food Show and The Taste of Sussex Festival Market on Jubilee Street. You may be wondering what the link is between knitting and the Food Festival, well here is the logo for this year's Festival, designed by Cardigan which was set up by lovely local artist Kate Jenkins:


Charlotte

Check out the VisitBrighton online game!

With multiple wins at the Loo of the Year Awards, Brighton officially has the best public loos in England!

But dastardly doings are afoot to make them grubby!

Help us keep them sparkling clean with our online game & you could win a break at Brighton's fabulous snooze hotel.

Will you be 'Flushed With Success' or will Trish the toilet attendant be coming at you with her mop!?'

Win Wizard of Oz tickets at Brighton Theatre Royal

We're giving things away again at VisitBrighton! So if you fancy a trip down the yellow brick road, simply tell us what you think of visitbrighton.com, by completing our simple website questionnaire and you could win a family ticket for THE WIZARD OF OZ at Brighton Theatre Royal.

Top West End performers
This brand new production, directed by award-winning musical star Tim Flavin, is packed with a cast of top-class West End musical performers and songs from the MGM classic, including We’re Off To See The Wizard, Follow The Yellow Brick Road and Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

Pop on your ruby slippers
So, pop on your ruby slippers, click your heels three times and complete our website questionnaire for a chance to win.

Komedia Brighton

Well hoorah hooray the weekend is here and to make it extra exciting a few of us from work are going to Komedia tonight for their Krater Comedy Club. I've been a few times now but I remember the first time I went I was quite sceptical as they have three stand-ups and a MC and as I hadn't heard of any of them I wasn't quite sure what to expect. However it was really good, and as I say I have been a few times since then and obviosuly some are better then others but overall it's good fun, although I wouldn't recommend sitting at the front unless you want to become the butt of a joke!


Mind you although Komedia is most well-known as a comedy club thanks to the Krater every weekend, and other events such as Tag Comedy and the satirical Treason show. They are also a music venue, a while ago I saw the gorgeous Ben Taylor the son of James Taylor and Carole King - how upsetting would it have been if he couldn't sing? luckily he can though! And coming up they have got Gotye playing who we saw during the Great Escape Festival and he really is amazing, he does all the music himself, although not in a Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins kind of a way I hasten to add!

Apart from live acts they also have club nights including Born Bad and Stick It On where you get to be the DJ for 15 minutes. As well as some miscellaneous events, I remember going to see some radio comedy show being recorded but then that was only becasue it was being introduced by one of Mum's favourite DJ's Mark Radcliffe. Staying on the radio theme they have an evening with Johnnie Walker coming up soon...


So there you go that was my quick introduction to Komedia so hopefully that has whet your appetitie, have a good weekend and don't forget to go to www.visitbrighton.com for a full What's On list

Charlotte

More accolades for Brighton

Just a matter of days after appearing in the Top 10 beach destinations in the world (and the only one from the UK) Brighton has now appeared in two more Top 10 lists, wahoo!

On MSN's list of the Top 10 University cities Brighton is in at number three beating Liverpool, Manchester and Cambridge. We came high up on the list thanks to the free-spirited atmosphere, the shopping and the nightlife. Other key points are that it is a manageable sized city and we are easy to get too, and only an hour from London - which came in handy for me for going to see George Michael at Earl's Court on Sunday, ok I know that wasn't exactly relevant but he was amazing so I felt I had to mention him :)

Anyway getting back on track, we are also one of the top 10 beaches with wifi internet access in the world, in fact we came in at number 2 only being beaten by Clearwater Beach, Florida. At this point I thought it would be nice to include an image but I'm not sure if we have any of people using laptops on the beach but then I remembered that the winner of our film competition last year - Tony Moon actually appeared in his video as the guy sitting on the beach with his laptop! What a link and a good excuse to show the film again, although before I do I should just add that if you would like to find out why Brighton appears in all these Top 10 lists then see our website for more information: www.visitbrighton.com



Charlotte