Dreamy Place, previously known as Brighton Digital Festival, launches a new programme of art, creative tech and digital culture this month in Brighton & Hove and Crawley.
In a medieval building that used to have secret rooms and serve as a priest’s house on Crawley’s High Street, a “small but perfectly formed” arcade has become part of the new incarnation of Brighton Digital Festival. Organisers Press Fire to Win are running their Pop Up Arcade for the first time since 2019 at The Ancient Priors, where the three-day free-for-all also features new games from independent developers’ “weirder side”.
This is taking place alongside a typically exciting and unusual programme online and in Brighton, including an attempt to create a new national anthem in one swoop, a collaborative exhibition of sound, video and light in the tunnel under Brighton station and an all-day event at Fabrica which will close with an enticing-looking club night soundtracked by psychedelic tech and EDM. There are also walks and tours including digital storytelling at Preston Manor and an immersive soundwalk in which you can hear stories revealing how Brighton’s laundry heritage is linked to women’s activism.
The wider festival is in enterprising hands under the guidance of Videoclub. The local and international film, video and digital culture agency has a knack for highlighting beautiful, weird and brilliant works from around the world at the events it runs, as well as providing a reliably expert source of inspiration to arts professionals. Videoclub’s inventive director, Jamie Wyld, has been a stalwart of creativity in Brighton and beyond for years, and one of his aims has been to expand the festival without losing any of its spirit.
A wide range of workshops, talks and screenings will be held across the four days of the festival in Brighton. In Crawley, one screening will be projected on to the wall of a former bank, and the Oska Bright Film Festival returns as part of the programme – the world-leading film festival featuring works made by or involving learning-disabled and autistic people.
Crawley, Thurs 12th – Sat 14th October 2023
Brighton, Thurs 19th – Sun 22nd October 2023
See the full programme here
Photo by Vasil Dzhagalov
