ZLS Theatre and Sweet Venues to Launch (Brighton &) Hove Grown Festival This Spring

ZLS Theatre and Sweet Venues are delighted to announce that (Brighton &) Hove Grown, a new performing arts festival for writers and performers within the city of Brighton & Hove, will take place from Friday 18th to Sunday 27th March 2016.

Three venues are currently confirmed for the festival, with discussions ongoing with a number of other performance spaces in the area. Confirmed venues are the Dukebox Theatre, the Brunswick pub, and Artista Studio.

The festival will cover theatre, comedy, improv, spoken word and cabaret. Family-friendly shows are also encouraged.

The festival is a joint venture between ZLS Theatre, Brighton's only social enterprise theatre company, and Sweet Venues. The key aims of the festival are:

1. To showcase work produced by local writers and performers.

2. To increase awareness of venues in the Western Road area of Hove.

3. To encourage the media to take a look at local talent ahead of Brighton Fringe.

Artistic Director and Founder of ZLS Theatre Guy Wah is pleased to see his idea coming to life: "Brighton & Hove has a wealth of creative talent, and now we have an outlet designed to celebrate that. This is a great opportunity to see new work in some wonderful venues that don't always receive the attention that they deserve."

"We are thrilled to be partnered with ZLS Theatre in the creation of (Brighton &) Hove Grown", said JD Henshaw, Artistic Director of Sweet Venues. "That we can build a festival that focuses solely on new work across multiple genres is a testament to the quantity of highly creative people living and working in our city, as well as the large number of exciting and supportive venues in and around the Western Road area of Hove. We are committed to presenting this festival for the next three years and believe that it will become a fixture in the Brighton & Hove festival calendar, one that we can carry on far beyond our initial three year plan."

Registration opens this weekend, and performers and writers can declare their interest at www.hovegrown.org.uk. The website will be launched at midday on Saturday 5th December.

ZLS Theatre is a social enterprise dedicated to showcasing new writing and developing fun immersive experiences. (www.zlstheatre.org.uk). ZLS Theatre uses profits from surpluses from immersive shows to finance productions of new writing, and commercial workshops to finance self-confidence and self-esteem workshops for marginalised adults and those who fall through gaps in traditional funding.

Sweet Venues manage the Dukebox Theatre in Brighton, and additional pop-up venues in Dundee, Edinburgh and Brighton. (www.sweetvenues.com). The Dukebox Theatre won best venue at the Brighton Fringe Festival in 2013. (www.dukeboxtheatre.com). Sweet Venues will host the winner of the 2015 Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence as part of their 2016 Fringe programme.

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