Brightona 2015 – the Brighton’s seafront bike show

Brightona is definitely my favourite bike show in Brighton with over 5.000 participants turning here year after year. Everyone is expecting this year (2015) will the numbers be even bigger. Not to mention, Brightona is already the biggest charity biking event in the south of England.

This year’s Brightona will take place on Sunday, 11 October 2015 along the Madeira Drive in Brighton. This event is organised to raise all-important funds for the Sussex Heart Charity.

Brightona displays

Thousands of people visit Brighton’s seafront each year to celebrate Brightona, which is now in its 12th year. This year, 2015, there will be a lot of competitions such as Best Bike in Show, Best Custom Bike or Best Hot Rod Display, also a massive display of bikes, scooters, trikes and quads. There will be live music taking place all day across three different stages, so please don’t forget to pack your dancing shoes, you’ll need them! You can expect to find lots of trade stalls, where you will be able to stock-up on your biking gear, bike parts, accessories, clothes and of course, memorabilia.

Brightona Charity Riders is a registered charity (Charity number: 1148200) and since 2003 it has managed to raise over £150,000 and has helped with the purchasing of life saving equipment to improve the lives of hundreds of people. Brightona organises events throughout the year, with the October Bike Show in Brighton being the largest one.

Entry to Brightona is free on foot, donations welcome of course. And £5 for bike and £10 for hot rod parking.

Some of the last year’s Brightona testimonials

“The Mayoress and I were delighted to support Brightona at their annual event in October; certainly less surprised than our neighbours when a splendid collection of trikes and bikes revved up to our house to collect us. Though the Mayoress is svelte and elegant by nature she was thrilled to jump into some jeans for the ride and doubly pleased when she realised that she would not have to wear a helmet – thereby saving her carefully coiffured hair – and enabling her to really rock her ‘biker chick’ chic!

The journey to the seafront was fun and a sight to behold for onlookers as our police escort kept us moving at a steady pace. Madeira Drive itself was thronged and the Mayoress and I shared a quick jive on arrival – only to be caught by a photographer for posterity … so much for the dignity of office!

Brightona do so much for charity and add so much to the reputation of our city; where else would a bunch of bikers be raising money for those less able? Only in Brighton & Hove; and as Mayor this year I was delighted to be given the ride of a lifetime.”

Ciir Brian Fitch, Mayor of Brighton & Hove

“Brightona 2014, one of the best ever held. The annual Brightona ride out to escort the Mayor of Brighton and Hove to open the event was led by organiser Abby Goldin assisted by 2 quick response vehicles and a Police motorcycle outrider. The Mayor Brian Fitch was accompanied by his wife Norah who rode on the back of Abby’s Harley Davidson trike leaving the Mayor to ride pillion on a my Harley Davidson motorcycle to the event. Thousands of bikers descended onto Brighton seafront to enjoy the bands on 3 stages, admire the custom bikes or make those special purchases from any one of the trade stalls up and down Madeira Drive. The event helped the Brightona Charity Riders raise a total of £26,000 this year for the Royal Sussex County Hospital’s Cardiac unit.”

Robert Every, Brightona

Don’t forget: Sunday, 11th October 2015 – Madeira Drive, Brighton

Brightona contact details:

Organiser: Abby Goldin
Tel: 01273 708151 or 07951 244079
Email: brightona10@gmail.com

Zombie Walk in Brighton 2015

Beach of the Dead 2015 – The Brighton Zombie Walk

We are getting more and more questions about this Brighton fun walk and I tried to find the answer to the main question: “Will the Beach of the Dead happen this year again?”

The Brighton Zombie Walk was incredibly popular since 2007 and according to DailyMail, More than 12,000 participants and spectators attended last year’s frightfest. The problem is, even the undead have to worry about health and safety and that cost money.

When will be the 2015 Brighton Zombie Walk taking place

I checked the (non existent – ZOMBIE???) website beachofthedead.com and I’ve been able to recover (thanks to few tricks) a bit of information that can be helpful finding the answer if and when will the 2015 Brighton Zombie Walk be taking place.On a stormy October evening, Beach of the Dead was created. Organiser Kate was fed up with the lack of Halloween events around in 2007 and craved a macabre atmosphere. With a love of horror and any excuse to cover herself head-to-toe in blood, Beach of the Dead was born. Beach of the Dead puts the ‘fun’ in ‘funeral’, the ‘laughter’ in ‘slaughter’ and invites the whole family to get involved. Beach of the Dead takes zombie walks to a new level, Brighton zombie parade attracts thousands of participants and like-minded onlookers from across the globe.In 2012, Beach of the Dead broke the UK Guinness Book of records largest zombie walk with 6,000 attendees. However, with the good, the bad must follow – Beach of the Dead did not take place 2013 or 2014 due to lack of funding and time pressure. The parade is entirely funded by our organiser, therefore the parade was taken back to the butchers block to dissect, manipulate and create a monster which shall return in 2015. In the meantime Brighton will not miss out, Beach of the Dead is organising fund raisers and smaller scale events to help raise funds to bring back the dead…
Bring out your dead.

Beach of the Dead – Screenshot of the official website

Sounds promising?Here is another reason why I’m more on the positive side. Last year (2014) the day after Halloween, there was another fundraiser – a late-night screening of Shaun of the Dead at Brighton Komedia. The organiser Kate Amer said: “This fundraising event is vital to Beach of the Dead’s future. This event will allow us to go hard and gruesome on a comeback for Beach of the Dead 2015. All funds raised with go directly to the event, allowing me to go to the powers that be with a plan of action for our return for 2015.”Hypothetically it will take place October 24, 2015 at 3pm – West Pier2007 – Saturday, November 3, 2007 at 4:00pm – 12:00am2008 – Saturday, November 1, 2008 (not sure about the time)2009 – Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 3pm2010 – Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 3pm2011 – Saturday October 22nd 2011 at 3pm (this year was a change in the starting point. Instead of Brighton train station, the zombie walk started in Victoria Gardens (Next to The Royal Pavilion), finishing in Concorde 2 on Madeira Drive2012 – Saturday, October 20, 2012 at 3pm – West Pier (change in location again to keep the dead right on the beach and far from the living), also finishing in Concorde 2 on Madeira DriveI have no idea and I’m just guessing the date and place. I’ve tried to contact Katie Amer at the emails (kate.amer@beachofthedead.com and info@beachofthedead.com) without any answer and using Facebook and Twitter with exactly the same result.The social pages I’ve tried:facebook.com/groups/Beachofthedead/facebook.com/katie.g.amertwitter.com/beachofthedeadBeach of the Dead 2015As I said earlier, the hypothetical date and place is just my own wild guess. If you want to be sure, please try to contact Katie Amer or someone else from the Facebook Group and you’ll may have more luck. If you’ll have any info, leave it in the comments for all of us. I’ll try to get more info too and a bit closer towards October will update this post.

Free parking in Brighton

So you are on your way to Brighton and looking for some free parking on the Brighton seafront? Guess what? It’s possible!

Where to park for free on the seafront

As I said, it is possible and I’ll show you the secret places you want to know about. First and the biggest FREE Car Park is on the Brighton Marina as I mentioned earlier in this post alongside with a cheap car parks in Brighton. It’s actually two separated car parks.

Yes the biggest free car park on the seafront is the Multi Storey Car Park on Brighton Marina. Offer over 1500 spaces you can park for free up to 4 hour. There is also high restriction up to 1.95m (6 feet 5 inches). And the postode to get you there: BN2 5WA (if you don’t know where Brighton Marina is). There is always lots of space even on Saturday or Sunday and I don’t think it was ever completely full.
The second one on Brighton Marina is the carpark next to Asda Superstore. This one is without high restrictions but the free parking is one hour shorter (up to 3 hours). Don’t try to stretch it! There is cameras checking your time right on the entrance/exit.

I know, Brighton Marina isn’t right next to Brighton centre but once you park there, hop along the coast on the cheap but fun Volks Railway. If you have kids with you they’ll gonna love it! Be careful because you’ll be passing the Peter Pan’s Playground and the Crazy Golf and you may never make it to the Brighton, especially with very young kids 🙂

One more place to park near the seafront for free is in Hove. West Hove actually. Once you are driving along the seafront (Kingsway) you’ll see the Lagoon on the left (right on the traffic lights) and three more roads on your right and you are free to park on the roads around as long as you need. You are looking for: Roman Road, Brittany Road, Derek Avenue… Postcodes: BN3 4LD, BN3 4PF, BN3 4PG

This one is much further from Brighton Centre but you have nice stroll the seafront with many shops and restaurants on the way.

More free on street parking in Brighton

If you don’t mind to be parking a bit further from the seafront but close to the Brighton town centre, your answer is Hanover. There is so many streets and all with our favourite kind of parking. The FREE one 🙂 It’s about 15 minutes walking distance to the City Centre and 20 minutes to the Brighton beach. Not bad, considering you don’t have to pay for the parking. It always take couple of minutes looking for an empty space but it’s possible. I’m always going to Elm Grove, postcode BN2 3ES and pick randomly any street on my left or even right. One more postcode BN2 3LJ is for Hartington Road which is just couple more minutes further with less traffic and usually more empty spaces for parking, especially Sundays. I’m usually not willing to park right on Elm Grove or on Hartington Road as both is full of traffic and you can spend much more time looking for a nice free spot compare to the side streets. If 15/20 minutes walk isn’t the best option, you can always use one of many buses taking you straight to the Brighton city centre. From Elm Grove alone there is at least 5 different buses (21, 22, 23, 74, 94) that will end up next to Churchill Square or on the Queens Road (the one going from the train station to the seafront). Or you can walk down the Elm Grove to Lewes Road and you’ll have more buses (23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 37, 48, 49, 78, 74), going down to the city centre every couple of minutes. No more free parking in Hanover, sorry.
If you are planning to stay in Hove, instead of Brighton (yes, another secret, seafront in Hove is quieter much more nicer than the one in Brighton) you have two or three spots you can park for free. The first one is Sackville Trading Estate (postal code: BN3 7AN) where is free parking without any time or high restrictions.
The second one would be on street parking just few yards from the Sackville Estate: Orchard Road, Orchard Gardens and Orchard Avenue with postcode BN3 7BG.
And the last one in Hove from me is Amherst Crescent and the streets next to it. The poscode is BN3 7ER.

There is much more places to park for free and usually the further from the seafront you going the more you’ll find. The main question here is: “How far is still close?” That’s the reason why I tried to show you the closest ones I know about.

Park & Ride in Brighton

There is one more (the official version) of this free Brighton parking adventure and that’s Park & Ride. The reason I didn’t mention this one right on the beginning is, don’t expect Canterbury sort of Park & Ride. This one is not so popular because it’s just too far. Yes you’ll get free parking with no restriction in time except “No overnight parking”. There is also hight restriction of 2 meters (6 and a half feet) as in most of multi storey car parks. The worst part? It takes about 30 minutes on the bus to get down to Brighton! I know I can’t complain if there is something free but this one is just too far. Anyway, if you are planning to use this official road set your SatNav to BN1 5JD. The bus number you’re after, once you parked your car is number 27 and it will take you to the City Centre in about 30 minutes as I said before. You are after those stops:

Clock Tower in Queen’s Road for Churchill Square and High street shopping
North Street stop C for The Lanes, North Laine and Old Steine
Sea Life Centre for Brighton Pier and the seafront

That’s it. I can write about free parking in Brighton or Hove forever, the thing is, you need only one parking space and I believe you already found it anyway. Don’t forget to spend the saved money in the local shops 🙂 Simply get the snacks or frizzy drinks there and you’ll end up with helping the local businesses with money you just saved on the parking and saving again as the snacks will be probably more expensive in City Centre anyway.

Enjoy your stay in Brighton and let us know where did you park for free in Brighton in the comments. If it’s some new place I’m sure everyone will appreciate it.