Youth take centre stage as Brighton Festival and Fringe kick off this weekend
Video report by Andy Dickenson
The Brighton Festival kicks off this weekend. Alongside its Fringe and The Great Escape music event, there are thousands of performances planned for the city and beyond.
But entertainment audiences have been slow to return to venues since Covid.
Children as young as 13 are rehearsing for Bakkhai by the Third Space Theatre Company.
It's a play they've written, produced and will star in - an ancient myth retooled for the present, telling of their fears for the future.
Performer Lucca Bowler Lord and Tanushka Marah, director of Third Space
The Music Venues Trust says that 22 grassroots venues have closed for good since April 2022.
The charity now expects many more will disappear - and that it’s likely one music venue per week will close in the UK.
They say it's due to a number of factors, including the increased cost of living and cost of stock, inflated loan payments, and declining audience numbers.
The Brighton Festival and its guest director, musician Nabihah Iqbal, are now hoping this summer will see audiences flooding back.
Andrew Comben, The Brighton Festival
Brighton Festival remains the largest arts festival in England.
Now in its 56th year, it's hoping for plenty more to come - and that young performers like those at Third Space will have plenty more boards to tread in the future.