As October’s crisp sea breeze sweeps through Brighton’s pebbled shores, ancient melodies fill the air with timeless passion. The Brighton Early Music Festival 2025: Love celebrates the many faces of affection through music from the past thousand years, from tender courtly songs to divine hymns. Running from October 10 to 26 in venues across Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom, this enchanting event invites music lovers to explore love’s depths via baroque operas, medieval chants, and heartfelt workshops. Founded in 2002, the festival, now led by co-artistic directors Hannah Ely and Olwen Foulkes, honors the late Deborah Roberts’ vision, turning historic spaces into stages where old tunes spark new emotions.
A Celebration of Love in Music and Memory
Since its start as a small pilot series, the Brighton Early Music Festival has blossomed into the UK’s leading showcase for early music, blending classical, folk, and world sounds up to the early 19th century. Deborah Roberts, who shaped its themes until her passing, chose “Love” for 2025, noting its endless layers, from joyful bonds to aching longing. The event gathers performers and audiences in a warm embrace of historically informed play, using period instruments to revive the composers’ original glow.
Last year’s 2024 festival, themed “Connections,” ended on a high note in late October, closing with a joyful joint performance by Cappella Pratensis and the BREMF Consort of Voices at St Bartholomew’s Church. Crowds lingered in the echoing nave, moved by the layered Latin chants of 15th-century masters like Dufay and Frye, their voices weaving national styles into a unified harmony that left many in tears. With over 20 events drawing thousands, it sparked fresh ties between artists and locals, proving early music’s power to connect across time. For 2025, spanning three weekends plus pre-festival sparks from September 20, it promises around 20 concerts, talks, and classes, all centered on love’s forms: Philia for friendship, Xenia for welcoming, Agape for spiritual bonds, and Eros for desire.
Set against Brighton’s lively mix of grand domes and cozy halls, the festival feels intimate yet grand, a gentle nod to the city’s creative pulse where sea views meet stone walls.
The Site: Brighton’s Historic Halls and Hidden Corners
The festival dances across up to 15 stunning spots in Brighton and Hove, each chosen to echo the music’s era. St Bartholomew’s Church, with its soaring vaulted ceilings, hosts solemn masses, while St George’s Church buzzes with lively baroque bursts. The Royal Pavilion’s opulent interiors glow for royal-themed sets, and the Brighton Dome’s flexible spaces welcome emerging talents. Quieter gems like The Old Market offer raw energy for folk-infused nights, and Stanmer Park’s open greens suit family sing-alongs under autumn leaves.
Pre-festival events kick off in places like Rottingdean Green, a short bus ride from the center, blending music with nature walks. Attendees hop between sites via easy buses or bikes, with maps guiding strolls past the seafront’s twinkling lights. The layout sparks adventure, from a morning chant in a hilltop chapel to an evening opera in a gilded room, all wrapped in October’s mild glow and salty air, making every venue feel like a love letter to the past.
A Line-up of Passionate Performers and Pieces
The 2025 line-up pulses with love’s spectrum, curated to blend stars and rising voices in creative takes on ancient scores. Weekend 1 (October 10-12) dives into Xenia, welcoming with the UK premiere of Mlle Duval’s baroque opera Les Caractères de l’Amour at a cozy hall, plus Nardus Williams and Elizabeth Kenny on 17th-century refugee tunes, Ayres Extemporae’s string trio, and The Gesualdo Six’s 16th-century vocals. Weekend 2 (16-19 October) lifts spirits with Agape, featuring Orlando Gibbons celebrations by Ensemble Augelletti, convent songs from Musica Secreta, and the BREMF Emerging Artists showcase at St Paul’s Church with Chantefable, Londinium Consort, The Lyons Mouth, and The Royal Sackbut Collective.
Weekend 3 (24-26 October) ignites Eros, exploring desire through medieval French trouvères’ courtly ballads and tales of love, loss, and redemption inspired by Oscar Wilde. Workshops on French baroque style for instruments tuned to A=415Hz add hands-on joy, while school ties bring young choirs into the mix. Past festivals lit up with irreverent gems like Red Priest’s Truly Madly Baroque in 2024, and this year’s thoughtful picks promise the same thrill, with audience chats turning concerts into shared dreams.
Days and Nights of Melodies and Magic
The festival’s rhythm flows like a slow sarabande, starting softly on October 10 with a Philia-themed opener of friendly tunes at the Dome, where voices blend in welcoming warmth. Mornings hum with workshops, like sea-inspired community plays based on Telemann’s Water Music for ages 2-5, or uplifting song circles in Stanmer Park’s tranquil glades. Afternoons shift to showcases, families picnicking on grass as emerging groups like The Lyons Mouth weave brass and voice into divine praises.
As dusk falls, evenings bloom with full concerts, strings sighing in St George’s under candle-like lights, or operas unfolding in the Pavilion’s silk-draped rooms. Late nights at The Old Market spark spontaneous dances to Playford’s welcoming jigs mixed with Carbonelli’s wine-tinged airs. Food stalls nearby dish fish and chips or mulled cider, fueling post-show whispers that stretch till curfew. The pace stays gentle, with breaks for seafront rambles, ensuring every note lands soft and true.
A Festival Built on Timeless Bonds and Fresh Sparks
Beyond the scores, BREMF nurtures community through education and exchange, with school projects teaching kids lute basics and choirs joining pros for joint masses. Eco-steps like local sourcing for events and reusable programs keep it green, while grants support young artists, echoing Roberts’ legacy of growth. The event boosts Brighton’s economy by filling cafes and B&Bs, and its open calls invite global proposals tied to themes.
2024 closed with that moving duo choir finale, voices merging in Burgundian Latin to cheers that echoed into the night, inspiring vows for more cross-group collabs. As a charity, it thrives on friends’ gifts from £40, blending tradition with bold curation to make old music feel alive and loving.
Planning Your Visit
Tickets start at £5, with festival passes for full immersion, on sale July 23 for friends and August 4 for all via bremf.org.uk. Single events suit dips, while bundles save for weekend hops. Brighton Station links nationwide by train, a quick walk to most sites; Gatwick Airport’s 30-minute ride eases in. Stay in sea-view B&Bs or Dome-adjacent hotels, many with music nooks.
Pack layers for breezy days, comfy shoes for venue treks, and a notebook for inspired sketches. Families adore kid zones, solos can volunteer for backstage peeks. Arrive early for prime pews, and snag a bus pass for seamless sails between churches and parks.
Why Brighton Early Music Festival Stands Out
In a rush of amps and spotlights, BREMF whispers wonders with gut-strung harps and breathy flutes, proving early music’s quiet fire can stir souls deeper than any roar. No barriers or blasts, just pure sound in sacred spaces that invite reflection and release. It’s where a lute’s pluck might mend a heart, or a choir’s swell sparks unexpected tears.
Its edge lies in themes that unlock history’s secrets, like love’s ancient codes, turning listeners into explorers. Fans leave humming forgotten airs, renewed in the belief that music’s oldest threads still weave us together.
Explore the Surroundings
Off-stage, Brighton’s charms unfold like a hidden sonata. Stroll the Lanes’ twisty alleys for bookish cafes and vintage fiddles, or climb to the pier for sunset fiddles over waves. The Royal Pavilion’s gardens host quiet picnics, while nearby Devil’s Dyke trails offer hikes with folksong echoes.
Day jaunts to Lewes’ castle ruins or Seven Sisters cliffs add wild beauty, mirroring the festival’s nature-laced Agape. These breaths between notes deepen the spell, rooting you in Brighton’s salty, story-rich heart.
Brighton Early Music Festival 2025: Love offers more than concerts, it delivers a serenade to the spirit. With its layered themes, luminous venues, and melodies that bridge eras, it calls you to lean in, let love’s old songs unfold, and hum their warmth homeward long after the final bow.
Follow Brighton Early Music Festival online for updates on tickets, artist announcements, workshops, and travel tips: Instagram: @brightonemf