Brighton Festival announces Anoushka Sankar as guest director

Brighton Festival has announced Anoushka Shankar as next year's Guest Director.

Established in 1967, the festival is a celebration of music, theatre, dance, art, film, literature, debate, outdoor and community events in venues and locations across Brighton, Hove and Sussex.

Anoushka Shankar will be Brighton Festival's 16th Guest Director, following in the footsteps of Anish Kapoor, Brian Eno, Laurie Anderson, Kae Tempest, Lemn Sissay OBE and, in 2024, author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

Brighton Festival 2024 enjoyed its highest ticket sales in five years, with more than 50k tickets sold, plus more free and pay-what-you-decide events than ever before.

On becoming Guest Director of Brighton Festival 2025, Anoushka Shankar says: "It brings me so much pride and joy to have been invited to be Brighton Festival's Guest Director for the 2025 season. I have loved the beauty, energy and eclecticism of Brighton since I was a teenager and was thrilled to play Brighton Festival myself a couple of years ago.

"I'm elated to now have the chance to get involved in programming a festival of diverse and cross-pollenating art forms from around the globe. It's my hope that the artists involved in the Festival can draw on their skills and heritages past and present to share perspectives on new ways forward across all areas of our lives, our challenges, and our dreams."

Shankar will work with the Brighton Festival programming team to develop a diverse and inclusive programme of events, which will be revealed at the official launch in February.

Brighton Festival 2025 will take place from Saturday 3rd – Sunday 25th May.