Brainchild Festival is one of the most exciting events we’ve been to this year, and that’s really saying something. This 2 day extravaganza of upcoming art, music and theatre is fast becoming the watched word of the UK Summer (if you could call it Summer).
Taking place in East Sussex, Brainchild this year had kept their site pretty much the same as 2015 except the addition of a beautiful woodland area hosting live music DJs until the early hours of the morning. This meant there was a wonderful escape from the main site if you fancied taking yourself off and enjoying something a bit more obscure.
The atmosphere of 2016’s event was, as you come to expect from Brainchild, astonishingly vibrant, youth-oriented and creative. There’s particular attention given to the emerging Afro jazz scene in South London as usual, but this year the organisers had certainly made a considerable effort to offer a broader range of genres, including more electronic outfits, like the slurring synth waves of Ben Hayes and the highlight of the weekend, WITCH100, who combined experimental noise, bass and drum machines all held together with an unbelievably moving live set.
For those who don’t know, Brainchild isn’t all music by any stretch. Many people come to the festival more for the art, theatre, workshops and literature, which this year included spoken word, short plays, and a great zine-building class with Creamer Magazine.
Sunday afternoon saw Abeerance & Rasberry Jam open up their showcase platform for people just looking to throw some shapes. There was an open dance off format after the main performances, which was a really original participation idea that you just don’t get at festivals often.
The whole weekend went off without a hitch, and everybody we met, spoke to and explored with were lovely and couldn’t speak more highly of Brainchild ’16. For those of you who want to be the first to find out about the newest and most exciting artists next year, get down to East Sussex and check ’em out for yourself.
[all photos sourced from Brainchild Festival’s website]
