Andrew Comben’s advice is to snap up those tickets while you still can.
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00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for the Ed Sussex newspapers,
00:07 and it's always lovely, it seems to come around quicker and quicker, to speak to Andrew
00:10 Conban with the exciting Brighton Festival coming along, a huge range of events over
00:16 a number of weeks. How has it come together this year?
00:21 Well it's been really wonderful to bring this festival to life because Frank Cultural
00:25 Voices, our guest director, has just been an extraordinary inspiration to work with.
00:33 He's got one of those imaginations that's completely infectious, he loves anything and
00:39 everything and the way that they connect to each other, and that's absolutely brilliant
00:44 for a festival because all of the connective tissue of arts and culture but also of life
00:51 itself is what you want to explore in a festival and I'm really excited that this year we're
00:55 concentrating on ideas around a hopeful future but also what's really wonderful in the world
01:04 and what's wonderful in art.
01:05 Well absolutely, we hear so much about all the things that are not quite so wonderful
01:10 about the world, is that the idea, to give us an escape, an alternative?
01:15 Yes, I mean whether an escape or not, I certainly think the opportunity to look around, to look
01:23 up and to also imagine. Frank talked wonderfully about how unless you imagine a brighter future
01:33 you can't actually achieve one.
01:36 And you've made it into existence.
01:39 And artists are brilliant at doing that and so we really wanted to bring artists and audiences
01:46 together in that spirit, not escaping from the realities of the world and indeed some
01:54 of our work this year delves into what is currently going on and what's wrong but always
02:02 with a hopeful imagination for the future.
02:04 So it sounds like we get a true reflection of Frank's personality coming through the
02:08 programme.
02:09 I hope so, I think so.
02:12 And above all there's just a massive amount of fun to be had in this three-week festival.
02:19 And adding to the fun is the fact that you have crucial venues back, don't you, for the
02:23 first time?
02:24 Yeah indeed, so the Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre which are just beautiful as well,
02:30 they're amazingly restored and the opportunity to work back in those spaces for the festival
02:35 is a real treat because it means we can bring a whole array of international artists and
02:43 national figures back to the festival in a way that we haven't been able to do for several
02:47 years.
02:48 Absolutely, and sadly this will be your last festival.
02:51 Does that make it feel very different as you go into it?
02:55 It makes it feel very poignant and I'm looking forward to it even more if that's possible
03:00 and draining every drop of energy out of it that I possibly can.
03:05 And I'm really looking forward to seeing the audiences and artists who are coming together.
03:12 It's feeling like a really, really popular festival this year and so I'm looking forward
03:17 to seeing everybody and celebrating with them.
03:19 Well we will have to do the proper valedictory chat at the end of the festival, won't we?
03:24 But the fact is things are booking well.
03:27 They are indeed and I hope that everybody can take this opportunity to look again at
03:32 the festival programme and really grab hold of some precious tickets.
03:37 There are some wonderful events like Marissa Karnesky's Show Women, which is a spectacular
03:43 circus piece on the last weekend of the festival and I'd really encourage people to have a
03:47 look at that and grab hold of it.
03:48 And that sounds like a fantastic way for the festival to go out for this year, doesn't
03:52 it?
03:53 Absolutely, yeah.
03:54 Well good luck with everything.
03:55 Congratulations on the festival programme that's come together and what you've achieved
03:59 over your tenure and looking forward to seeing it all.
04:02 Thank you very much.
04:03 Thanks very much, Phil.
04:04 Thank you.
04:04 Thank you.
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