Brighten The Corners Festival is the emerging multi-venue music festival that takes over Ipswich town centre on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th June this summer.
Acts performing across the 5 stages include Friday’s afro-funk headliners Ibibio Sound Machine, Saturday’s post-punk headliners shame, Hot Chip’s frontman Alexis Taylor for a late night DJ set, electronic indie project Art School Girlfriend, indie rock group The Mysterines, rapper and producer Jay Prince, Brighton based three piece Lambrini Girls, jazzy hip-hop and genre-bending artist Yoni Mayraz, plus many more exciting names as part of the lineup including 70+ artists, the best of emerging music.
Ipswich Borough Council, one of the festival's Headline Sponsors, have been a huge support to make it all possible, facilitating the use of the Corn Exchange and the Cornhill.
A member of the BTC team said ”We’d like to say a huge thank you to Ipswich Borough Council for all of the support with Brighten The Corners Festival and the use of two out of our five stages, the Corn Exchange and the Cornhill. It's fantastic to have a shared vision of bringing the town to life with culture, nightlife and people.”
IBC have facilitated the use of the Cornhill once again, the festival’s open-air stage that sees the winners of the Apply To Play scheme, as well as being home to the Adnams beer truck and various food vendors for members of the public to enjoy.
Playing on the Cornhill stage are alternative indie band from Bury St Edmunds HEADCHECK, Ipswich acoustic singer-songwriter Sophiethegreat, rapper and MC from Ipswich WESTY, rap, grime and trap artist Xidontlie and loads more. Tune Up, the event management course for 16-25 year olds run by The Smokehouse and Out Loud Music, is managing the Cornhill stage for the second year running. This involves artist liaison roles, content creation, stage hands and more; all skills they have learnt during the course that teaches the essentials for running your own gig.
In 2023, the inaugural edition of Brighten The Corners Festival, festival-goers and members of the public could enjoy music on the Cornhill as well as food from trucks such as vegan burgers and loaded potatoes. The Cornhill is non-ticketed, so anybody can enjoy the music.
The rest of the venues - The Smokehouse, The Baths, St Stephen’s Church and the Corn Exchange, require wristbands.
A festival-goer said “The Cornhill was the heart of the festival, showcasing the best of regional talent with a focus on creating a welcoming space for the community to enjoy high quality music for free.”
You can get weekend or single day tickets here
IBC have also facilitated the use of the Corn Exchange, the biggest indoor venue for the festival where you can find the headline acts as well as many more talented artists. Headlining this year are critically acclaimed post-punk band shame and afrobeat, disco and funk party-starters Ibibio Sound Machine. The headline stage has also seen the likes of 86TVs, The Go! Team, Warmduscher, Working Men’s Club, Yard Act and many more.
Music fans in Ipswich have commented on how great it is to have multiple active music venues in the town, after years of having to travel to other cities for gigs. “I love what Brighten The Corners are doing with the music scene in Ipswich, it's now the best I have ever known it, I have been to many of the gigs and continually tell everyone about it at every opportunity. Brighten The Corners is putting my home town on the map.”
