Seagull Recommends 10/02

Hello and welcome back to Seagull Recommends! This week we've got Carly Rae Jepsen, Refugee Valentine, choral-theatre piece The Distance Between Us, and more. Enjoy!

If you come across anything coming up in the city that you think we should know about, let us know!

🎶Gigs: Carly Rae Jepsen is coming to Brighton on Monday, and our editor is beyond excited. Run Away With CRJ to the Dome and have a Good Time as you Cut to the Feeling at your Party For One. Surrender [your] Heart to Jeppo, you know the E•MO•TION Feels Right (tickets).

🎶Bonus gigs: The Sussex Refugee and Migrant Self-Support Group is running Refugee Valentine at the Old Market on Tuesday, set up to celebrate diversity and love in the community. The event started in 2016: Their aim is to showcase acts from the refugee, asylum seeker and precarious migrant communities to celebrate love and connection, raise money for their destitution fund, combat loneliness among migrant communities, and to strengthen Brighton as a welcoming City of Sanctuary that celebrates its diversity. Music from Bakk Lamp Fall, Son Guarachando, Dina & Polina and Sukhrob (tickets).

🎭Theatre: The Distance Between Us is a new choral-theatre piece by The Voice Project, ​exploring themes of separation and connection across time and space. The initial run of tickets is sold out, but a limited number of balcony tickets have been released. There are two performances, at 6pm and 8pm, tomorrow (Saturday 11th) at St George's Church (tickets).

🦖Film: As part of Children's Mental Health Week 2023, Fabrica will have an afternoon subtitled screening of Song of the Sea, an animated Irish folk tale that portrays how strong emotions such as sadness and grief are part of the human experience and the importance of navigating them. It tells the story of 10-year-old Ben and his little sister Saoirse—the last Seal-child—who embark on a fantastic journey across a fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to their home by the sea. A story about family, heart and culture which is inspired by the mythological Selkies of Irish folklore, who live as seals in the sea but become humans on land. Doors & refreshments open at 3:45pm for a 4pm start, tickets cost £0-6. Affordable refreshments and popcorn stand on site (tickets).

🧩Escape room: Calling all escape room fans! The world’s greatest detective agency, Clue Company, is looking for new detectives from tomorrow (Saturday 11) to Sunday 19th February. Applicants will need to prove they’ve got what it takes by solving a grisly murder in Preston Manor before the other teams of wannabe detectives (tickets).

🏳️‍🌈🛍️Market: The Queery is holding a Queer Market on Saturday and Sunday, from 12pm to 5pm both days. On Saturday there's illustrations, accessories and more from creators including cockneycowgirl, Little Jay Bird, Ani Designs, Nelly Threads, and on Sunday there are greeting cards, jewellery and zines, among other goods, from Shaven Raven Designs, Bryony May Art, Aghh! Zine and more.

☕Coffee and lunch: FIKA Hove is a delightfully charming little cafe opposite Hove Town Hall, with an incredible coffee deal Monday to Friday mornings: £3.50 for any coffee and a cinnamon bun! Considering a latte is £2.90 and oat milk is 30p, that meant our editor basically got a 30p cinnamon bun, and it was delicious to boot. They do fried egg sandwiches, but everything can be made vegetarian or vegan—swap the egg for avo and vegan cheese.

🍺Pint: The Basketmakers' Arms is one of the cosiest and most charming pubs in Brighton. Find yourself a table against the wall and have a look at the messages in the tins attached to the wall and maybe add one of your own! If they still have it on tap, we'd recommend the YellowHammer Carnival cider (drink responsibly).