Brighton Festival launches across the city

Fiesta in Brighton

Andrew Comben, festival chief exec and Hofesh
Shechter, guest director at the start of the Parade

Looking out at the fierce sea, following the driving rain earlier this week, it’s hard to imagine that only a few days ago, on Saturday, I was standing on a crowded balcony of the Theatre Royal in blazing sunshine watching the Children’s Parade that marks the start of the May fiesta and the Brighton Festival and Brighton Fringe. There were plenty of wonderful creations on view including a number of shoes, goats and innumerable brightly coloured costumes. Eighty three schools participated in the parade and 5,000 children were involved. The creativity, the enthusiasm, the music and artistry on display were truly a delight to see.  

         

Art and culture for all
And from there, we popped into Brighton Museum to see the sculptural art installation, British Library, by Yinke Shonibare who is the lead artist for this year's "House" exhibition. His characteristic use of fabulous fabrics and colour has produced a stunning library of books whose spines reflect the names of hundreds of figures with immigrant backgrounds who have become household names and contributed to the rich culture of this country. Do go and see it when you are in town; you will be uplifted.

             


On Saturday evening I was again fortunate to attend two stunning productions on the first day of the Festival. One, Opus 7, was a dance music theatre piece that almost defies description but which poignantly brought home to the audience the impact of torture and exclusion of the Jews. In the second half, the production completely shifted and focused on the difficult relationship of the composer, Stravinsky, to the communist Russian state in which he lived. The performers used puppetry, music, battling bashing pianos and much more. Later in the evening I saw the spectacular dance and choreography of Hofesh Shecter’s troupe performing “Sun”. A number of members of the Arts Council attended this performance and its chair, Peter Bazalgette, paid tribute not only to the artists and our city for hosting the Festival but also to the local authority for recognising the importance of arts and culture as part of the life blood of the city and its citizens.

Keeping the city running
While scores of actors, musicians and entertainers were putting on the early events of the Festival, it’s important to remember that the weekend was also a working time for many others in the city, including numbers of council staff. I am always conscious of our colleagues in social care who work throughout the weekends and evenings and play such a contribution in keeping our more vulnerable citizens safe and well. I am also very conscious that colleagues from Cityclean were working on Monday to fulfil our residents’ service guarantee and to keep refuse and recycling collections going. Our household, like so many others in the city, benefited from the service on Monday and I am delighted that it is now in place.

Summer in the rain
Then yesterday morning, on my way to work, I bumped into Summer, one of our seafront street cleaning team, who was battling the elements to pick up the litter and ensure a sparkling seafront. Despite the terrible weather she was incredibly positive and cheery and was happy for me to take her photograph, and encourage her to come and get her “dinner” at 9am in Kings House canteen. So here's a picture of Summer in the rain, although the weather's looking better today.

Summer in the rain

Stronger Families 
Today with senior colleagues from Police and Probation, we launched a working together and learning event for dozens of our frontline staff across Brighton & Hove who are part of the "Stronger Families, Stronger Communities" service. An impressive array of family workers from across our public service and voluntary organisations in the city came together to learn and share, all intent on achieving the purpose of the programme which is to ensure joined up effective help that really makes a difference to families who are struggling. Collaboration and creativity are vital to this programme. Forging strong purposeful relationships between professional staff is an essential starting point for effective relationships and work with troubled families.

A selfie! Leighe Rogers Probation Director, Helen West
Police Inspectorand me at the Stronger Families launch

Dementia Friends
Finally, you may have noticed a fantastic national initiative that started this week - Dementia Friends. Its premise is simple. With increasing numbers of people living longer and developing dementia, there is a real need to spread understanding of the condition and to encourage behaviours of tolerance and care which will be of such assistance to those affected, and their families and friends. There's an excellent video that is well worth watching and then the sign up procedure to become a dementia friend is easy. Please go for it. 

That’s more than enough for this week, I'm sure.
Best wishes
Penny