Seagull Recommends 23/06

Hello and welcome back to Seagull Recommends! This week we've got the launch of a walking festival, a rock opera about Tony Blair (no, really), an exciting film screening with an exclusive discount code and more.

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

🎶Gigs: The Butterfly Wheel, a 'mystic psych folk' duo, are at The Folklore Rooms tonight (tickets); Alien Nosejob (good name) is Australian Jake Robertson, and his punky, no specific genre solo project is gracing the floors of The Green Door Store on Wednesday (tickets).

🎭Theatre: Opening on Tuesday is the most ridiculous show we've ever heard of: Tony! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera]. With music by Harry Hill (yes, that one, of Harry Hill's TV Burp) and Steve Brown, it's described as 'Yes, Minister meets The Rocky Horror Show!', telling the story of 'how one man went from peace-loving, long-haired hippy and would-be pop star to warmongering multimillionaire in just a couple of decades'. The New European described it as 'colossally tasteless'; don't say we didn't warn you (tickets).

📚Kemptown Bookshop: Our favourite independent bookshop is hosting an evening with two of the city's best crime writers on Thursday. PD Viner and Jane Lythell will be talking about how Brighton has influenced their latest novels and how the 'dark underbelly of the city seeps into their writing and their minds' (tickets).

🎬Film screening: Join Transform Brighton and Hove for a screening of FINITE: The Climate of Change at Wagner Hall this Wednesday. The film tells the story of concerned German citizens on a mission to save an ancient forest from one of Europe's biggest coal mines, forming an alliance with a frustrated community in rural England.  Enter code SEAGULL (all caps) to get a half price ticket (tickets)!

🚶Walking festival: The first Brighton & Hove Walking Festival starts tomorrow! The council have organised 51 walks between tomorrow and Saturday 9th July, and are encouraging everyone who can to experience the great outdoors. The walks cover a wide range of interests, including historical tours, nature walks, mindful experiences and more. Perfect for people who want to see more of the city, enjoy relaxing green spaces, meet new people, or learn something new, and many of them are ideal for beginners. Find a walk and book online here.

🏖Beach clean: Leave No Trace are running a beach clean on Sunday morning, from 9-11:30am, in collaboration with Sea Lanes Brighton. They bring the equipment, you help give Kemptown beach, our ocean environment and all it's inhabitants a helping hand by clearing and recycling as much rubbish as you can, Sea Lanes give you a complimentary Barre/Pilates/Strength class and FIKA keep you going with some complimentary coffee (you have to bring a reusable cup with you!). Find them by Sea Lanes on the beach: they'll have a big yellow flag.

🍱Food: Manju's in Trafalgar Street is extremely hard to get a seat at, but if you can, it's worth it. The Gujarati Indian vegetarian restaurant is beloved across the city, not least because of head chef 86-year-old Manju Patel who still cooks in the kitchen every night (they think she's the oldest working chef!). They've also just published a cookbook, with a selection of recipes that they call 'a true reflection of the food served in Manju's', and 'a perfect example of food not needing meat to feel like a complete meal'.

🍻Drink: The Joker in Preston Road now has a lovely roof terrace and it officially opens this weekend. While you're there, they've got some delicious new drinks on their summer menu: the mandarin mezcal margarita has been their most popular so far!