2027 Upcoming
Dates for 2027 had not been announced when this page was written, though delegate passes were already on sale — a super early bird at 200 pounds sold out and the early bird is 247 pounds. The 2027 line-up was listed as coming soon.
The Great Escape
The Great Escape is Europe's leading festival for new music, held each May in Brighton. Delegate pass costs, how the conference works and who it suits.
Next edition
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AI programme
Getting in Open to anyone via a delegate pass. Festival wristbands cover shows only and admit you to no conference session.
What The Great Escape offers
Checked against the published programme. Struck-through items are confirmed absent, not merely unlisted.
- Conference sessions
- Showcases you can apply for
- No trade show floor
- Official hotel block
What is The Great Escape?
The UK's new-music showcase festival, and the conference that runs alongside it.
- Three days in Brighton every May, with hundreds of emerging artists across the city’s venues.
- An industry programme that has become the main annual gathering of the British music business.
- The 2026 edition was its twentieth anniversary.
- Same model as Reeperbahn Festival and ESNS — a showcase festival with a professional conference bolted on. In the UK it has no real competitor.
Is this related to the film?
No — but the 1963 film owns the bare phrase, which is why the festival is always written out in full.
- The Steve McQueen film dominates searches for the two-word version.
- Search “The Great Escape festival” or “Great Escape Brighton” and you will get there. The short version will not.
- It is usually shortened to TGE within the industry.
Do you need a delegate pass?
Yes — there are two products and only one of them is the conference.
Best valueEarly bird delegate£2472027 rate, on sale now
- All conference activity
- Keynotes and panels
- TGE Elevate
- Delegate spaces
Super early bird£200Sold out before the 2027 dates were announced
- The same delegate access
- No longer available
Festival wristbandSeparateShows only
- Festival shows
- Every conference session
- The delegate pass covers all conference activity: panels, keynotes, networking, the TGE Elevate programme and the delegate spaces. The 2027 early bird is £247.
- The festival wristband covers shows. It admits you to nothing on the conference programme.
- A £200 super early bird sold out before the 2027 dates were even announced — which tells you the pass is priced to reward booking blind, and the gap between tiers is real money.
Who should actually book this trip?
Book it if you are:
- A UK or Irish artist who needs industry in front of you. This is the domestic showcase circuit’s main event, and the acceptance odds are better than SXSW’s while the room is more concentrated.
- A manager, agent or label staffer working the UK market. The British industry turns up more or less in full, and the walkable city format means you actually see people.
- Selling into UK music — service providers, distributors, platforms. The buyers are here.
Skip it if you are:
- Not working the UK market. TGE is a domestic gathering with an international fringe, not the other way round. Reeperbahn Festival or ESNS will do more for a continental European strategy.
- After technology or catalogue business. The programme is artist development, policy, venues, mental health and workforce standards — a genuine strength, and not what Music Tectonics or Music Biz are for.
How much AI is on the programme?
Almost none — the thinnest AI showing of any European event in this directory.
- I read the full published 2026 conference programme. Across three days of panels, AI is named in exactly one session description.
- “Advocate & Amplify: Music’s Power in Policy and Progress”, presented by SoundExchange, where SVP International Amanda Carmichael and guests discuss “how artist voices can effect change on everything from artificial intelligence and streaming to national treatment and neighbouring rights”.
- That is AI as one item on a policy list. No session is about it, there is no track, and nobody is billed as an AI speaker.
What the programme is about instead is worth naming, because it is a choice rather than a gap: grassroots venues and the regional touring circuit, Grime and Jungle as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, safeguarding standards through CIISA, mental health with CALM, and the economics of being a working musician in Britain. Those are the arguments the UK sector is actually having.
If AI programming is the reason you are choosing a conference, TGE is the wrong trip and I would rather say so. The NAMM Show runs a named AI programme, IMS Ibiza ran five substantive AI sessions in 2026, and ESNS tags six panels under its own AI category.
If UK industry access at an early career stage is the reason, none of those three replaces this one.
What does it actually look like?
Where is it, and can you walk between venues?
Brighton, England, United Kingdom Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Get directions →- Venues are spread across the city plus a beach site on Marine Parade, so sessions mean walking between conference rooms and the seafront several times a day.
- The TGE app carries current room allocations. Rooms move, and the app is the only reliable source once the week starts.
- Brighton station is 10-15 minutes on foot from most venues, with London Victoria about an hour by train.
- Gatwick is 30 minutes by direct train — the easiest airport approach of any European event on this list.
- Brighton in May is expensive and fills up. TGE runs an official hotel booking service for exactly that reason; factor accommodation in before deciding this is the cheap option.
When are the next editions?
2026 Past
The twentieth anniversary edition. Conference programming ran Wednesday 13 to Friday 15 May across the beach site on Marine Parade and conference rooms in the city, with the Friday given over to a Next Gen day.
Common questions
When is The Great Escape festival?
Every May in Brighton. The 2026 edition ran 13 to 15 May, its twentieth anniversary. Dates for 2027 had not been announced when this was written, although delegate passes were already on sale.
Is The Great Escape festival related to the film?
No. The 1963 prisoner-of-war film dominates searches for the bare phrase, which is why the festival is usually written as The Great Escape festival or TGE. It has been Brighton's new-music showcase festival since 2006.
How much is a Great Escape delegate pass?
The 2027 early bird delegate pass is 247 pounds. A super early bird at 200 pounds sold out before it, so buying early genuinely saves money here. The pass is the only route into conference sessions.
Do you need a delegate pass for The Great Escape conference?
Yes. All conference activity — panels, keynotes, networking, TGE Elevate — is delegate-pass only. A festival wristband covers shows and nothing else, so the two are not interchangeable.
Where does The Great Escape conference take place in Brighton?
Across several venues in the city plus a beach site on Marine Parade. Sessions are spread between conference rooms and the seafront, which means walking between them, and the festival's own app carries the current room allocations.
Who speaks at The Great Escape conference?
A mix of UK industry bodies, artists and policymakers. The 2026 programme included the Musicians' Union, the MMF, CIISA, SoundExchange, Music Venues Alliance Brighton and artists including Ed O'Brien and Nadine Shah, with a keynote slot held for the Minister of State for Creative Industries.