Brighton Fringe Unveils 2026 Line-Up of Comedy, Theatre and Dance for 21st Year

Brighton Fringe has unveiled its line-up of comedy, theatre and dance ahead of its return this May. Now in its 21st year, Brighton Fringe aims to stimulate, educate and entertain through a diverse programme that welcomes local, national and international performers and audiences, showcasing creativity across Brighton, Hove and beyond. This celebration of the weird, wild and wonderful is fuelled by home-grown talent with approximately 30% of events produced by artistic companies based in Brighton & Hove.

As the third-largest Fringe festival in the world, Brighton Fringe is an open-access festival, welcoming any artist to put on an event and perform. Registration fees are kept affordable, with artists having control over ticket prices, concessions and discount codes. Continuing its commitment to accessibility, the Fringe’s Affordable Payment Plan, first piloted in 2025, returns in 2026 to support artists who might otherwise be financially excluded, allowing them to pay registration fees in two instalments over three months.

This commitment to artist support is crucial to the Brighton Fringe who have also awarded 33 bursaries to artists in the 2026 programme. These artists receive free registration for this year’s Fringe and a combination of financial aid, mentoring, marketing support and additional performance opportunities, roughly equivalent to £13,000. 

Additionally, Brighton Fringe’s Made In Sussex season will return for its third year. The season aims to highlight local acts from the area, culminating in a pre-Fringe showcase for the performers to share snippets of their events in the run up to the festival, as well as a free registration fee for their event.

Theatre Highlights

Highlights from the theatre programme include the return of Jonny Woo's Surburbia, a personal show blending storytelling, drag and burlesque, which won the Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2025. Mohit Mathur and Leigh Toney present Are You Even Indian?, an intimate dance-theatre work about love, migration and the quiet negotiations of identity within a relationship.

Following their acclaimed debut at Brighton Fringe, OnTheNose will return with MAN!FEST: A Boy Band Fantasy, a drag musical comedy about your new favourite boyband trying to survive their second world tour. Also featured is Custard Club, which brings four women from across the twentieth century together for a campy, custard-fuelled exploration of queer community and identity.

Following a sell-out, Scotsman Fringe First award-winning Edinburgh premiere, Beth Paterson makes her Brighton Fringe debut with NIUSIA, a powerful work weaving her Holocaust survivor grandmother’s memories and stories to explore identity, legacy and the questions we inherit across generations.

Comedy Highlights

The comedy programme offers everything from high-energy adventures to musical mayhem. RATMAGEDDON from RatBag blends sketch, clown and character work, plunging audiences into a feral, apocalyptic world of musical madness. The multi award-winning Police Cops: The Original returns with adrenaline-fuelled physical comedy, 80s hits and unforgettable facial hair.

Award-nominated musical comedian Alexis Sakellaris presents their new queer musical comedy CHILD STAR, while Mystic Smeg takes audiences on a slightly spiritual, overly sexual journey in Guess Boo: The Mystery of My Nan’s Ashes. Drag King Kathy Maniura presents The Cycling Man, following a newly single, middle-aged man teetering on the brink after spending an NHS nurse’s salary at Decathlon.

Circus, Dance and Physical Theatre

Circus, dance and physical theatre to watch include Cohabitors, a performance exploring the emotional terrain of shared living through acrobatics, body percussion and live music. Direct from Tokyo, Resonant Void is an experimental solo Butoh performance using a mosquito net, plastic sheeting, two black skirts, portable lighting and projection system to create a fragile, immersive world where body, materials and light constantly transform.

Comedy acrobats are seen in GODZ, a bodyssey of gravity-defying stunts, heroic strength and muscular feats. Portals (An Immersive Dance Odyssey) takes audiences of all ages into dreamlike worlds where gravity and time bend, guided by headsets and a troupe of world-hopping performers. Buster follows silent film star Buster Keaton’s life through mime, clowning, puppetry, dance and live lighting, creating a cinematic reimagining of classic mime.

Family Programme

The family section of the programme is bursting with imaginative and playful shows for children and young people. Fringe favourite The Bubble Show, created and performed by Guinness World Record holder The Highland Joker, blends storytelling, magic, science and bubble artistry into an unforgettable journey.

Darryl J Carrington presents Out of the Box, a non-verbal, family-friendly visual comedy packed with world-class tricks and a hilariously absurd toothbrush finale. Fishy Tales with the Seabream Sisters takes audiences on a rollicking high-seas adventure of clowning, puppetry, songs and wild stories. Meanwhile, Madame Chandelier’s Opera Party for Kids allows audiences to enjoy opera’s greatest hits and meet new characters. Join Feast and Fable for traditional tales and a wonderful immersive bread-making and eating experience.

Cabaret and Variety

Cabaret and variety will take centre stage at Brighton Fringe with the return of sell-out smash BEAVERHAUSEN, where the queer gender-bending drag king will take you on a burlesque mission. Let C’est Magnifique transport you to an intimate cabaret setting, where performers will whisk you away with vigour and potency for moments of unexpected pleasure.

Following his fourth annual sell-out season of shows at the Brighton Spiegeltent, Big Quiffy Bingo invites you to release your inner Bush in the joyful and unique show An Evening Without Kate Bush. The Fools Present: Nerd Ball sees The Fools return with a celebratory explosion of nerdy silliness, fan culture and special interests, featuring outlandish drag and outrageous vocals. A Night at the Museum offers an immersive after-hours experience at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, where the venue comes alive, letting audiences explore the galleries, meet intriguing characters and complete challenges in an open-world theatrical adventure.

Literature and Spoken Word

The literature and spoken word programme features Brighton-based collective Words By The Water presenting Fringe and Friends. Ella Sadie Guthrie performs new poetry, Kate Ireland launches her latest book, and illustrator Chris Riddell brings the words to life through live illustration.

Separately, an informal conversation will take place between former BBC Radio 4 presenter Nigel Wrench and naval officer Duncan Lustig-Prean, a trailblazer in the UK Armed Forces and LGBTQ+ campaigner. Addiction – It’s a Family Matter explores the impact of a loved one’s addiction through monologue, autobiography and poetry, drawing on voices from Mitch Winehouse to Caitlin Thomas. Running With Scissors is a one-woman show revealing the hidden costs of bravery and burnout for women surgeons, with dark humour and raw honesty.

Nightlife Highlights

The nightlife programme promises endless energy, ready to take the Lanes by storm. The Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus brings its joyful energy to the stage, while Arias in the Garden offers an enchanting afternoon of opera in a garden setting.

The Cabarave lights up the iconic Spiegeltent with high-energy beats from DJ Krafty Kuts and show-stopping cabaret from some of Brighton’s most gorgeous and delightfully risqué performers. There must be love in the air with Debussy’s Romantic Piano by Candlelight, where pianist Matthew Shiel explores the secret love affairs of classical composers, from Chopin’s elopement with George Sand to Brahms’ hidden romance with Clara Schumann.

Audiences can also take to the streets with The Great 80s & 90s Movie Soundtrack Songbook, which brings unforgettable hits from films like Top Gun, Dirty Dancing, The Bodyguard and Pretty Woman to life, backed by an eight-piece band.

Tours and Walks

Visitors should get their walking shoes on to experience history come alive through a series of immersive walks in the programme’s Tour section. Fearless and Fabulous Women of Brighton reveals the stories of extraordinary women who shaped the city. Ghost Walk of the Lanes uncovers haunted streets, Take Shelter! explores a rare surviving wartime air raid shelter, and Witchcraft & Magic Tour delves into Sussex witch trials, ley lines and Brighton’s occult history.

The Daddy Long Legs Rides Again combines an app-led guided walk with a tour of the historic train carriage, giving participants a chance to step back in time and capture memories along the way.

Comment from Managing Director Amy Keogh

Managing Director Amy Keogh comments, “It’s so wonderful to see another year full of shows that are exciting, creative, inspiring, challenging and everything in between. Fringe really is a time for artists to showcase their work, whether new or old, and an opportunity for audiences to take a chance on seeing something they may never have experienced before. There really is something for everyone!”

Looking Ahead