The 60th Brighton Festival will run from 1 to 25 May 2026, presenting over 100 events across theatre, dance, music, literature, and visual art. Marking a new era under chief executive Lucy Davies, the festival debuts original productions and makes the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange its performance hub.

Brighton Festival 2026 opens with the world premiere of Kohlhaas, running from 1 to 5 May at the newly restored Brighton Dome Corn Exchange. Directed by Omar Elerian and starring Arinzé Kene, the production is adapted from Heinrich von Kleist’s novella Michael Kohlhaas and explores themes of protest and resistance through a contemporary perspective.

This premiere is the first original work produced by Brighton Festival itself, signalling a shift as the organisation now curates and stages new work for the first time in its history. The collaboration reunites Elerian and Kene, who previously worked together on Misty.

The Corn Exchange will be central to the festival’s theatre programme, featuring Time Keeps The Drummer by Fevered Sleep from 8 to 10 May. This five-hour durational piece includes 12 local children and one adult percussionist in its performance. Other highlights at the venue include Clod Ensemble and Nu Civilisation Orchestra’s live reinterpretation of Charles Mingus’ The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady from 16 to 17 May, and Dark Noon, an immersive show by fix+foxy with a South African cast, running from 21 to 24 May.

Live-art company KlangHaus contributes two immersive experiences throughout the festival, incorporating sound, light, and moving image in site-responsive works designed to place audiences at the heart of the action.

Beyond the Corn Exchange, circus company NoFit State will premiere carnation: the revolution is coming and I have nothing to wear, a show combining circus, live music, and cinematic imagery, staged at Black Rock from 2 to 25 May and directed by Firenza Guidi.

The Theatre Royal Brighton hosts a revival of Wise Children with Malory Towers from 19 to 23 May, while the Akram Khan Company brings its final touring show, Thikra: Night of Remembering, to the Brighton Dome Concert Hall from 23 to 24 May.

Visual art features prominently with a major new commission, Soft Machines, installed along Hove Promenade from 2 to 24 May. Created by Brighton-based artist Ivan Morison in collaboration with Heather Peak, the work consists of large-scale sculptural forms.

The 2026 programme indicates a broadening of the festival’s creative scope, combining original theatre productions with immersive experiences and major visual art projects, reflecting Brighton Festival’s evolving cultural ambitions under its new leadership.