Brighton Digital Festival – programme highlights

BRIGHTON Digital Festival isn’t just about showcasing creativity and talent, or the city’s amazing digital industries according to new festival chair Jon Pratty.

“What's really impressive is that the Digital Festival can bridge the gap between different tribes - digital developers, communities, artists, the third sector, local authorities. If we want to talk about so-called smart cities, this is where that discussion begins."

Join the discussion with some of the highlights of the 180-strong programme below:

Spark Brighton

Clarendon Centre, New England Street, Brighton, Tuesday, September 1, 10am to 5pm, free

A ONE-DAY gathering of ideas aimed at encouraging youngsters aged six to 16 to learn digital skills through workshops covering inventions, employment, enterprise, gender neutrality and where nature and technology meet.

Luna

Graphite Digital, Kensington Street, Brighton, Tuesday, September 1, to Sunday, September 27, free

A new arcade-style space shooter multi-player game on the smartphone, playable for free in the window of the Graphite office.

Adam Buxton’s Best Of BUG

The Old Market, Upper Market Street, Hove, Wednesday, September 2, 7.30pm, £15, 01273 201801

YOUTUBE’S finest music videos get the big screen treatment – alongside Buxton’s trademark dissection of their comments boards.

The Long Progress Bar – Festival Of Radical Imagination

Brighton Dome Studio Theatre, New Road, Thursday, September 3, 12.45pm, and Friday, September 4, 4pm, Thurs day ticket £55/£27.50, brightondigitalfestival.co.uk/

A TWO-DAY festival of international artists, scholars and social innovators, organised by Brighton-based Lighthouse, featuring special guests economist Mark Blyth, artists David Blandy and Zach Blas, and electronic musicians Holly Herndon, TCF, Mat Dryhurst and Jam City.

Mini Maker Faire

Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, Church Street, Saturday, September 5, 10am to 5pm, £9/kids free, 01273 709709

AN inspirational festival of hands-on making for all ages, ranging from robots and crafts to musical instruments, electronics and weaving.

BlockBuilders – Redesign Brighton Seafront

Alcampo Lounge, London Road, Brighton, Sunday, September 6, 10.30am to noon, Monday, September 7, 4pm to 5.30pm, free, 07712 559211

HAVING already given their take on Brighton’s London Road development and Lewes’s Phoenix Industrial Estate, young Minecraft enthusiasts get to reimagine the city’s crumbling seafront in two free sessions. Also £10 London Road redevelopment sessions from 10.30am at weekends from Saturday, September 12, to Sunday, September 27.

Sci-Fi Interfaces Movie Night: Guardians Of The Galaxy

Duke’s At Komedia, Gardner Street, Brighton, Thursday, September 10, 6.30pm, £11.30/£10.30, 0871 9025728

DISCOVER the work that goes into creating science-fiction communicators and computer terminals, and whether they would work in real-life, as David Hicks from the Guardians Of The Galaxy design team discusses the technology of the imagined future.

The Cube

The Old Market, Upper Market Street, Hove, weekends from Saturday, September 12, to Sunday, September 27, 15 minute sessions at noon and 4pm, £8.50, 01273 201801

FOLLOWING last year’s mysterious theatre piece Beyond The Bright Black Edge Of Nowhere – about a group of 1950s students who disappeared in the desert – Circa 69 creates a one-one-one multi-sensory virtual reality experience based around the Oculus Rift headset.

Curing Perfect – Online Graphic Novel Launch Event

68 Middle Street, Brighton, Wednesday, September 16, 7pm, free, www.curingperfect.com

THE first chapter of a new online steampunk-inspired graphic novel, made in partnership with Carousel, Circa69, digital artist Alex Peckham and lecturers from the University Of Birmingham exploring the idea of perfection.

Billy Cowie 3D

The Old Market, Upper Market Street, Hove, Thursday, September 17, 7.30pm, free, 01273 201801

A CHANCE to see excerpts from Brighton film-maker Billy Cowie’s last four dance pieces filmed in 3D, ahead of a retrospective next year.

Pop Up Arcade

Otherplace At The Basement, Kensington Street, Brighton, Saturday, September 19, and Sunday, September 20, 10am to 6pm, free, brightondigitalfestival.co.uk/

PRESS Fire To Win offers a chance to play new arcade games – both single and multiplayer - and hear from their creators and designers.

The Secret Life of Your Mobile Phone

68 Middle Street, Brighton, Saturday, September 19, 7pm, £8, brightondigitalfestival.co.uk/

TECHNOLOGY journalist Geoff White and Glenn Wilkinson, security researcher for SensePost, tell you who the computer in your pocket is talking to behind your back.

The Waiting Wall

Brighton Railway Station, Thursday, September 24, to Wednesday, September 30, free, thewaitingwall.com

SEE anonymous messages from commuters waiting for their trains in a digital version of Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall.

ROAD

West Street Underpass, Brighton seafront, Friday, September 25, 6pm to 9pm, free brightondigitalfestival.co.uk/

FILM maker Nick Driftwood collaborates with White Night producer Donna Close and composer Kevin Matthews in an immersive screen work for public spaces inspired by a US road trip.

Sensacional

The Old Market, Upper Market Street, Hove, Saturday, September 26, from 11am, and Sunday, September 27, from 10am, £10, 01273 201801

AN interactive sound and light show for toddlers aged 18 months to three years, who can interactive with a digital world of ladybirds, shapes, squiggles and squarks.