Brighton Fringe Announces New Outdoor Festival Site

A new pop-up outdoor festival site comes to Brighton Fringe this May, in the shape of Caravanserai.

Devised by Pete Bateman and established at Camp Bestival in 2013, Caravanserai will be built out of repurposed caravans, with vintage fairground waltzers, where hoopla stalls and shoot-out galleries become bars.

 It'll be situated north of St Peter’s Church, less than a ten-minute walk from Brighton station.

Brighton Fringe CEO Julian Caddy said:

“We are delighted to partner with Caravanserai on this new and exciting project. Brighton Fringe intends this venue to be another hub for the festival in the Valley Gardens area alongside Brighton Spiegeltent.

"The venue will be a collaborative space where all venues and participants can come together, community groups and charities can benefit from the Brighton Fringe platform, and our audience can discover some of the best live performances from across the world”.

The site will be free-to-enter, with street food stalls to enjoy, a dedicated family area for children, secret spots to be discovered and a Brighton Fringe box office on-site.

Caravanserai will host two theatre venues. The larger of the two is a 220-seater big top, Luna Parc, showcasing theatre, circus and cabaret, with aerial capacity and a late-night music programme supported by Continental Drifts and including programming by Komedia and Laughing Horse Comedy. The smaller venue is a bespoke 50-seater bandstand venue, Junk Poet’s, with intimate comedy, spoken word and theatre events.

Artist-founder Pete Bateman said:

“We can’t wait to come to Brighton this May and host many of the incredible acts and producers involved in Brighton Fringe. We’ve wanted to get Caravanserai out on the road for a few years now, and when the opportunity to bring it all to Brighton cropped up, we knew we had to do it. We are looking forward to sharing our world with a new audience and watching some great shows”.

Programme highlights include “Must See Show” of Edinburgh Fringe 2022, Mythos: Ragnarok; the three-man, multi-award-winning and globally acclaimed comedy group, Police Cops; and a weekend music takeover 11 - 14 May, including Carnival Collective, a Rockinghorse Charity Rave and programming by Continental Drifts. Tickets go on sale during the second release of Brighton Fringe tickets on 17 February 2023.

You can expect the unexpected with interactive walkabout performances, a busking stage for Brighton Fringe acts from across the festival and surprise late-night musical guests, encapsulating the Caravanserai magic previously seen at Camp Bestival.

Camp Bestival founder Rob Da Bank said:

“Everyone at Camp Bestival is incredibly excited to see Caravanserai up sticks and land by the sea in Brighton. Having been there from the start of the story in 2013 at Camp Bestival, it’s a joy to see a work created with love and passion for festivals on tour. There’s no cooler venue in global festival land, so roll up and make sure you get in the queue for the amazing programme at Brighton Fringe very soon. See you by the waltzers!”

Caravanserai will also play host to a community programme of workshops and talks in collaboration with Brighton Fringe’s charity partners, such as New Note Orchestra, Living Paintings and Martlets.

Caravanserai will open its doors to the public on the first day of Brighton Fringe 2023, Friday 5 May, and operate every day until the end of the festival, Sunday 4 June 2023.

Travel sustainably to Brighton Fringe this spring via Thameslink and Southern services to Brighton and Hove stations.

The first release of Brighton Fringe 2023 tickets is now on sale, showcasing award-winning comedy, queer musicals, fast-paced theatre and laugh-out-loud children's shows via brightonfringe.org