Here comes the sun! The Beacon supports two great Eastbourne summer events

The Beacon is looking forward to helping Eastbourne have a great summer by sponsoring the fantastic Eastbourne Carnival 2024 in May and the amazing Eastbourne airshow, Airbourne, in August.

The two events will bring new visitors to the town and help boost the local economy. The carnival has a growing reputation within the creative and artistic communities around the south east and attracts musicians from London and further afield to join the parade.

Airbourne celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, a truly remarkable feat. It attracts tens of thousands of holiday-makers and day-trippers on each of the four days of the show and helps raise significant funds for local charities through bucket collections by a small army of volunteers.

The Beacon general manager Mark Powell said Eastbourne was gearing up for a great summer. “Eastbourne Carnival heralds the start of summer for me,” he said. “We are delighted to be an event sponsor and will be there to cheer on the dancers and bands as they parade along the seafront.

“Airbourne is another brilliant event,” Mark said. “We have seen it grow in stature over three decades and it is great to give it a bit of support as it celebrates its 30th birthday. The seafront really buzzes with excitement.”

The theme for this year’s Eastbourne Carnival is Into The Wild and the procession starts at 2pm on Saturday May 25.

The procession begins at Fisherman’s Green and will waltz, jive and gyrate its way to the Wish Tower slopes. The fun continues with a street party in Victoria Place from 4pm – 8pm.

A smaller procession through the town centre starts around 11:30am from the Enterprise Centre and proceeds to Victoria Place.

There’s support on hand, with costume-making workshops provided by Cotton Candy and carnival dance classes with Cherry Dance and Dance with Emma Holding.

Mina O’Brien, Chair of Eastbourne Carnival said: “Last year, our entrants did an amazing job of putting on a great Carnival for the theme ‘Sussex By The Sea’. So much so, Eastbourne Carnival was featured in the international carnival media, putting our carnival firmly on the map!

“We are very excited to see what the community brings to carnival this year with the new theme. We want to see a celebration of the natural world – animals, birds, sea creatures and flora and fauna from nearby or far away places. There’s still time to register and we invite anyone wishing to participate to do so via the website.”

If you want to get involved as an entrant, volunteer, or sponsor – please visit:
https://www.eastbournecarnival.com/

Airbourne takes to the skies from Thursday August 15 to Sunday August 18. The seafront will be packed with locals and visitors, as crowds search for a favourite spot to watch the free air displays.

The world-famous RAF Red Arrows take to the skies on Thursday. The display is a guaranteed show-stopper and will get the festival off to a great start.

The sky-borne spectacular sees the ever-popular RAF Typhoon from Friday to Sunday, while memories will be stirred up by the daily Battle of Britain memorial flights, comprising a Hurricane, Lancaster and Spitfire. Two fighter jets will join the fly-past to create a five-strong display on Saturday and Sunday.

Daily flight times are only available in the official Airbourne Programme. Proceeds from programme sales help fund the four-day show.

More information on Airbourne is available via Eastbourne tourism at www.visiteastbourne.com or call the airshow information line on 01323 415415.