Brighton’s beloved St Ann’s Well Gardens Spring Festival returns this May, bringing with it a joyful celebration of local creativity, music, and community spirit. Among the many highlights is a bold performance from youth music charity AudioActive in collaboration with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, whose genre-pushing sounds reflect the city’s vibrant, independent energy.
For 16 years, the festival has celebrated everything that makes Brighton unique; its steadfast independent spirit, vibrant creative energy, and strong, close-knit community. From musicians and artists to food vendors and small businesses, every part of the Spring Festival is locally sourced and supported, nurturing a welcoming, friendly and safe environment for all the family. Keeping it local ensures the event stays true to Brighton’s identity, giving independent talent and Brightonian providers a platform, and keeping money circulating within the community ecosystem.
One of the featured stages will have AudioActive at the helm, a music not-for-profit known for its exploration of underground genres, traversing rap, grime, and R&B whilst touching on the fringes of other sonic landscapes like folk and indie, all through the lens of youth-led music making. Working within these realms often calls for a certain spec of instrumentation – a typically digitally generated, sample-driven sound found in the studio, rather than the classical depths of the orchestra pit. AudioActive and the London Philharmonic Orchestra have challenged this separation, bringing the bright, brassy sounds of an orchestral ensemble to the forefront of emerging sounds coming out the UK contemporary music scene, begging the question; what happens when an orchestral ensemble goes head to head with a rap cypher?
The AudioActive X LPO collaboration will be a highlight of this year’s St Ann’s Well Gardens Spring Festival, but you can also expect performances from AudioActive’s flagship talent development programme Emerge, including Amy Walker, REA, Snow, JJM, Lisa Lo, Amy Palmer, 224 (LD), Asiedu, and Lilly Wolfe, in addition to the legendary DJ and producer Mak 10, the Spring into Soul Choir, and New Bud Beginnings. There’ll also be a coveted appearance from the highly acclaimed Kele Le Roc who has recently collaborated with the drum and bass orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, in addition to working with Basement Jaxx’s Romeo.
This AudioActive X LPO collaboration steps beyond genre-blending to both build confidence in emerging artists and to also demystify a classical genre that is often considered unattainable and unfamiliar for young artists exploring very different musical sounds. As part of the LPO’s ongoing work with South Coast communities, the collaboration embodies the importance of bringing two musical worlds face to face, and is generously supported by Garfield Weston Foundation, TIOC Foundation and donors to the LPO’s Arts for Impact Big Give campaign.
Although the festival is free to attend, it relies on community support to keep going. One of the best ways to help is by purchasing a limited-edition and specially designed Gresham Blake Spring Festival T-shirt. This directly helps to fund the festival, ensuring it can continue to offer free entertainment, activities, and opportunities for local artists and businesses. Supporting the city’s independent scene means events like this can thrive without losing their grassroots spirit, continuing the long-held tradition of a Spring Festival created by and for Brightonians.
The Spring Festival is free to attend, with no sign up required!
St Ann’s Well Gardens
Somerhill Rd, Brighton and Hove, BN3 1PL
Saturday 3rd May 2025
12pm – 7:30pm
