Edinburgh, you have competition. England’s premier festival kicks off on
Saturday and, with an ever-growing roster of events, it’s seriously gunning
for the Scottish capital’s crown.
The three weeks of the 42nd Brighton Festival will feature more than 200
concerts, performances, readings and debates, while the Fringe Festival has
gone ballistic, with more than 600 doses of comedy, music, drama and dance
to choose from. Some of this year’s big names, such as Gore Vidal and Jarvis
Cocker, are sold out, but the smaller venues and quirkier acts, from a
mandolin orchestra to the Lady Boys of Bangkok, are temptingly available.
For families, the best show is the spectacular (and free) children’s parade,
which opens proceedings from 10.30am on Saturday. To take your pick of the
rest, see www.brightonfestival.org
and www.brightonfestivalfringe.co.uk.
Whatever your preference, though, don’t just visit and run: this place
deserves a few days of your time, so make a break of it. With a blockbuster
hotel launch, a flurry of recent restaurant openings and the constant sound
of new shopfronts being hammered into shape, the city by the sea is enjoying
its highest heyday since the Prince Regent popped down for a detox in 1786.
In a city that fiercely debates its identity, not all the changes have been
universally welcomed – but that’s part of the attraction. Whether you come
for hedonism or relaxation, glamour or karma, you’re not just enjoying your
weekend, you’re choosing your side in a vibrant squabble over the character
of one of Britain’s most creative and energetic urban cultures. Here’s a
roundup of what’s recently taken root.
THE BIG NEW HOTEL
You can see why the Myhotels group, which bills itself as creating feng-shui’d
spaces where “technology and spirituality merge”, saw countercultural
Brighton as the perfect fit for its first opening outside London. Some
irony, then, that this 80-room oeuvre has been plonked in the most
characterless plot in Brighton’s centre, the new Jubilee Square.
In a city where supporting independent local businesses is more of a civic
duty than paying your council tax, the developers have opened a Pizza
Express, a Yo! Sushi, a Starbucks and a Tesco Metro, all within a stone’s
throw of Myhotel’s reception. Still, you only have to hurl the stone a touch
harder and you’ll hit the most bohemian quarter of the city – the kooky
cafes and secondhand stores of the North Laine district.
Once inside Myhotel, wonderfully funkadelic design meets laughable new-age
pretension. The Merkaba cocktail bar is a glistening, curvaceous cocoon of
light and metal: what it isn’t is “a plane of reality where you can reach
your full potential”, benefiting spiritually from “guardian crystals” at the
entrance.
The bedrooms are a daring blend of sleek whiteness and eye-popping
psychedelia, but you’d stay here because they’re some of the coolest in town
– not because they’ve been designed without corners “to allow the unlimited
flow of energy”. 01273 900300, www.myhotels.com;
standard doubles from £140
THE FAT-FREE TREAT
One of this city’s most attractive traits is that new ventures seem to get a
fair crack of the whip, and many business people finally launch their
long-dreamt-of shop or restaurant concept here. One such dreamer opened a
little outfit called The Body Shop in 1976, and recent efforts include a
trendy fudge pantry, a tuk-tuk taxi firm and a Japanese sextoy shop.
But the best chain-in-waiting is barely a month old: Lick, the city’s first
frozen-yoghurt cafe, serves organic, healthy treats that kids and grown-ups
have already taken to; locals are currently favouring honey, granola and
raspberries as the top topping. There’ll be a Lick in your home town soon. Lick,
Gardner Street, 10am-8pm
THE iTUNES TOUR GUIDE
Cool City Walks is another young company. It produces audio walking guides to
Europe’s hipper urban centres, which you can listen to on your MP3 player as
you wander. So far, Brighton is the only UK regional city it covers, so you
can get off the train, plug in and stroll, absorbing local history and lore
on every street corner.
The content is excellent: it’s worth noting that earphones don’t make for a
sociable outing, but for lone travellers this is the future. More gregarious
sorts should plump for the much-loved locals’ handbook, The Cheeky Guide. www.coolcitywalks.com/brighton,
£5.99 for the tour; The Cheeky Guide to Brighton, £7.95, www.cheekyguides.com
THE GINGER EMPIRE
If one man exemplifies the current Brighton boom, it’s Ben McKellar. Barely
known outside BN1, this local chef started off with The Gingerman in 1998, a
tiny French restaurant on a dim side street, which soon became a cult
classic. Seafront hotel Drakes came calling and a second Gingerman opened up
in its basement.
In 2007, it was a city gastropub, The Ginger Pig, in Brighton’s sleepy
sibling, Hove; then, this March, the Ginger Fox, McKellar’s take on the
country pub. The amazing thing? His standard of cookery – and the
competition for his tables – hasn’t slipped an inch. www.gingermanrestaurants.com.
Visitors to Brighton will find the two Gingermen the most convenient: 01273
326688/696934; mains from £15
THE SANDY BEACH
Yes, sand, beautiful soft sand, a haven of comfort after all those nobbly
pebbles. To get onto it, though, you have to be prepared to sweat a little,
at the city’s new beach-sports centre, Yellowave. You can rent a golden
volleyball patch for an hour or two – or relax in the beachside cafe and
watch everyone else diving around and trying to high-five like they’re in
Top Gun. 01273 672222, www.yellowave.co.uk
THE NEW QUEEN OF QUIRK
There are few towns with a distinctive enough character to merit their own
adjective. As Bom-Bane’s restaurant demonstrates, this is one of them. The
menu is European with a Belgian slant; the tables are individually designed,
with a replica of the East Pier encased in one tabletop, vintage cartoons
playing on a television inside another, and a salt shaker that sets off wind
chimes on a third.
As you’re tucking in to your hearty sausage or sticky waffle, Jane Bom-Bane
and her staff occasionally down tools to sing their clientele a song of
their own composition. The whole lovable, deeply individual experience can
only be described as “very Brighton”. 01273 606400, www.bom-banes.co.uk;
mains from £8; May 15-31, Bom-Bane’s: The Musical is £25 for dinner and a
show
Brighton bound? For a full five-page guide to the city, see the new
issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, at newsagents from Thursday,
price £3.40
You can find Brighton's unique specialist shops and restaurants on a great website called www.uniqueto.co.uk.
Margie, Cardiff, UK
You neglect to mention the draconian parking regime that nets the 2nd highest level of parking fines in the country (outside of Birmingham). Also, don't try and leave in a hurry - between the Royal Pavillion and Preston Park (a distance of 2 miles), there are 13 sets of traffic lights.
mnairb, Hove, U.K.