Brighton Mod Weekender Commands the August Bank Holiday Weekend in Brighton

Twenty Years of Style, Scooters and Sound on the Seafront Four Days of Beats, Bikes and British Subculture Brighton has once again slipped into its sharpest threads for the August Bank Holiday as the Brighton Mod Weekender marks its 20th anniversary—four days of live music, late-night dancefloors and scooter pageantry that run from Thursday 21 […]

Twenty Years of Style, Scooters and Sound on the Seafront

Four Days of Beats, Bikes and British Subculture

Brighton has once again slipped into its sharpest threads for the August Bank Holiday as the Brighton Mod Weekender marks its 20th anniversary—four days of live music, late-night dancefloors and scooter pageantry that run from Thursday 21 August through Sunday 24 August 2025. Born in 2005 and organised by The New Untouchables, the Weekender has grown from a cult gathering into a staple of the city’s summer calendar. This year’s edition anchors its nights at Komedia while daytime buzz spills across the seafront, reaffirming Brighton’s status as the spiritual home of modernist style.

The curtain rose on Thursday with a sold-out opener at Komedia’s Studio Bar headlined by indie-mod stalwarts The Rifles, with Block 33 in support—an early indicator of the weekend’s pulling power and the appetite for guitar-driven anthems that nod to the scene’s roots without being trapped by them. According to the organisers’ ticketing and social updates, doors opened at 7pm and demand outstripped supply, a fitting start for a milestone year.

By day, the centre of gravity shifts to the seafront, where The Volks hosts free, family-friendly sessions. Across the weekend the venue becomes a social hub: records flicked, parkas compared, coffee cups clinked and dancefloor warm-ups staged before the night’s main events. The Komedia team trail the format plainly—daytime at The Volks, nights at Komedia—keeping the flow simple for first-timers and veterans alike.

Brighton’s transport operators and listings sites have leaned in, too, signposting visitors to a spread of late shows and fringe happenings around town, with Komedia the heartbeat and venues like Patterns appearing in round-ups as part of the wider Mod week’s nightlife map. For a long weekend built on movement—both to the beat and across the city—that clarity matters.

If the nights belong to the bands and DJs, Sunday belongs to the scooters. The organisers confirmed that the ride-out departs at 3pm from Roedean Café, rolling east along the A259 to the Peacehaven roundabout (Dell Public Park) before looping back towards the pier—an A-to-B procession of chrome, candy paint and pride that turns the coastal road into a living gallery. In a weekend of many photo moments, this is the most cinematic.

The showmanship continues back on Madeira Drive, where the scooter competition draws crowds and cameras. Timings and meet-points have varied over the years, but the consistent thread is a public showcase that allows visitors to linger over the engineering and artistry that define Mod wheels—mirrors to the sky, badges in battalions, and leather seats glinting in the late-summer light.

Anniversary years invite reflection, and Brighton offers one more avenue for that: a free seafront photography exhibition presented by Brighton & Hove City Council to celebrate two decades of the Weekender. Running roughly in parallel with the event—21 to 31 August—the Seafront Gallery shows work by David Clarke (Dammo Photography), whose images have become part of the event’s visual memory, from massed scooters to midnight dancefloors. The location next to the i360 and the Upside Down House makes it an easy detour for promenaders, and for many it’s a chance to trace their own attendance through the years.

On the bill beyond the opening-night headliners, Komedia’s listings point to club marathons and live sets pitched squarely at Mod sensibilities—Northern Soul, R&B, beat and Brit-tinged indie—while New Untouchables events fold newer names into the fold. New Street Adventure and Telecom, for instance, slot into Studio shows designed to flow into all-nighters, with dress codes reinforcing the scene’s sartorial streak. It’s less about nostalgia than continuity: a culture that prizes polish, rhythm and the thrill of collective style.

The Weekender’s staying power owes plenty to that balance. A generation who discovered the culture through Quadrophenia or their parents’ 45s now share space with teens discovering the look and sound for the first time. The wooden floor at Komedia remains a magnet; the pier-side air still carries strains of Hammond organ and handclaps; the cafés still hum with talk of jets and gearing. And each year, new photographs, new friendships and new favourites are added to the archive.

Practicalities matter in a city this busy. With multiple nights selling out ahead of time, organisers urged early booking; ticket resales and last-minute drops came and went as the weekend approached. For those planning a future pilgrimage, the pattern is clear: secure nights first, then build the days around the seafront, the market, and the Sunday spectacle. The formula has worked for 20 years because it is legible, generous and rooted in Brighton’s geography.

Two decades after its first Komedia outing, the Brighton Mod Weekender remains precisely what it promises: a living celebration of style and sound, a festival that treats the city itself as a stage, and a bank-holiday rite that sends visitors home a little hoarser, a little sharper and a lot more in love with the idea that music scenes can still feel like communities. On the evidence of this anniversary year, the next 20 look just as bright.