We, Generate launches at Brighton Festival 2026
Dreamt up by our Future Creative Leaders (FCL)
A bold, youth-led programme exploring how young people can ‘reimagine humanity, hopefully’ by actively shaping culture, inviting audiences to imagine a fairer, bolder world. Featuring workshops, live events, conversations and a youth takeover, it’s a space for experimentation, creativity and community.
The programme brings together young creatives and leading voices to explore how culture is shaped, and how we can imagine more hopeful futures.
Highlights include Create Your Dream City, a hands-on collage workshop reimagining the spaces we live in, @ Your Service, an interactive conversation on community, care and lived experience led by Jordan Stephens, alongside Brighton-based youth voices. Go Back and Get It: Exploring Sankofa with activist, author Mikaela Loach,, and campaigner for climate and racial justice; Joycelyn Longdon. And Steam Down - the genre-defying collective known for turning every room into a congregation - headline an evening of improvised, intergenerational music
The programme culminates in a Youth takeover at Brighton Dome studio theatre for a celebration of hope and humanity, reflecting on the month and what matters most to them now.
We, Generate is an open invitation to connect, create and rethink the world together.
Check out our events for We, Generate
Create your Dream City: Mixed Media Collage Workshop
What would your city look like if you got to build it from scratch? How would you move through it? Where would you rest, create, grow?
Join us for an open, creative afternoon making 2D and 3D collages from found materials — reimagining nature, transport and neighbourhood life through our hands. This workshop will be facilitated by our Future Creative Leaders, in partnership with Art in Mind.
Date: Saturday, 2 May 2026
Time: 3.30-5 PM or 5-6.30 PM or stay for both sessions.
Location: Brighton Youth Centre, 64 Edward Street, Brighton, BN2 0JR (map)
Tickets: FREE
Age: 14+ Under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
@ Your Service
What happens when the systems meant to support us fall short — and who steps in to fill the gap? What does it mean to actually feel held by a community?
Join us for an honest, open conversation exploring lived experience, local services, and the role of community in shaping who we become. Featuring artist, author and mental health advocate Jordan Stephens, Bobby Brown and Kaia Allen-Bevan.
After the panel, the room breaks into smaller conversations — facilitated by young people from the Future Creative Leaders programme. Bring your questions, your stories, and your truth.
Date: Saturday, 9 May 2026
Times: Doors: 3PM. Event: 4-6PM
Location: Brighton Youth Centre, 64 Edward Street, Brighton, BN2 0JR (map)
Tickets: £5. Booking Required.
Age: 14+ Under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Go Back and Get It: Exploring Sankofa
Led by researcher and cultural strategist Fez Sibanda, this is a facilitated inquiry into what happens when a generation chooses to look back - not with nostalgia, but with purpose. What wisdom has been left behind? What tools already exist? Joining the conversation: Mikaela Loach, activist, author and campaigner, Joycelyn Longdon, environmental justice technologist; and Naiya a local storyteller and community leader.
Date: Monday, 25 May 2026
Times: Doors: 1.30 PM. Event: 2 - 3.30 PM
Location: Brighton Dome Studio Theatre, New Rd Brighton, BN1 1UG (map)
Tickets: £5. Booking Required.
Age: 14+ Under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Part of the Youth Takeover at Brighton Dome studio theatre.
Celebrating Humanity, Hopefully
Join us in the culmination of our Brighton Festival 2026 programme in celebration of Brighton's community music and arts scene. Headlining are Steam Down - the genre-defying collective known for turning every room into a congregation - headline an evening of improvised, intergenerational music-making alongside local artists and DJs. Expect jazz, soul, poetry, dancers, DJ sets, and an art exhibition.
Date: Monday, 25 May 2026
Times: Doors: 7 - 11 PM
Location: Brighton Dome Studio Theatre, New Rd Brighton, BN1 1UG (map)
Tickets: £5. Booking Required.
Age: 14+ Under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Part of the Youth Takeover at Brighton Dome studio theatre.
ABOUT FUTURE CREATIVE LEADERS
Future Creative Leaders (FCL) is a 12-month paid programme offering young creatives from underrepresented backgrounds the opportunity to work closely with Lighthouse's leadership team to explore various aspects of creative leadership. Funded and supported by Art Fund’s ‘Reimagine Grants’ and Chalk Cliff Trust, over the year, participants will co-curate programmes, select participants for mini-residencies, and recruit their successors, all while exploring alternative governance structures, accountability, and power-sharing.
FUNDERS AND PARTNERS FOR BRIGHTON FESTIVAL 2026
We're grateful to: Innovate UK, Chalk Cliff Trust, Sussex Community Foundation, Enjoolata Foundation, Brighton Festival, Brighton Youth Centre and Art in Mind.