For the first time in 175 years, The Royal Pavilion Brighton will be curated and hosted by The Adelaide Salon, holding a Art Gala evening celebrating art, performance art, music, cuisine and Sparkling wines and cocktails served Main sponsors The Ivy in the Lanes and Ivy Asia Brighton, featuring acclaimed local artists, musicians and performers throughout the whole of the Royal Palace.
The inaugural Adelaide Salon Art Gala is one of the most anticipated cultural events of 2026, bringing together internationally celebrated artists, musicians, performers and cultural figures for a spectacular evening inside Brighton’s iconic Royal Pavilion, completed in the early 19th century as a ‘pleasure palace’ for King George IV.
Taking place on Saturday 30 May 2026 from 7:30pm until midnight, the landmark gala will serve as a dazzling finale to a month celebrating the 60th edition of Brighton Festival and the renowned Artist Open Houses festival across Sussex. The After Party is at the Brighton Beach House, Soho House.
The extraordinary one-night event will transform the Royal Pavilion into a living contemporary salon filled with immersive art, live music, fashion, performance and fine dining. Guests will move through the Pavilion’s lavish interiors encountering site-responsive installations, sculpture, sound, film and curated performances inspired by the spirit of the great European salons of the 19th centuries.
Headline artists include Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood appearing fresh from their acclaimed Venice Biennale presentation, will be presenting a 5m x 5m Tapestry, Monsterus Threads, from their major exhibition at The Ashmoleon Museum. Turner Prize nomineeartist Delaine Le Bas, who will present Art as well as doing a ‘performance’, alongside many other performance artists including Darvish, Isobel Smith, Aisling Zambon, Lucy Newman and many more. Fine artist Helen Beard will be showing her spicy erotic pieces in the Kings Bed Chamber. The evening will also showcase works from Graham Dean, The Baron Gilvan, Jessica van der Weert, Amy Dury, Dione Salvador Lloyd and many more emerging and established talents from Sussex and beyond.
Sponsored by The Ivy Collection, Ivy Asia, Sipsmith, Charlotte Tilbury, Electric London, Be Chocolat, Mercure Hotels, Roebucks estates and supported by media partners Culturalee and ROSA Magazine, the gala promises a rich sensory experience with Sussex sparkling wines, Sipsmith spirits, sake tastings, artisan chocolate and curated cuisine served throughout the evening by The Ivy in the Lanes and Ivy Asia Brighton. There will be an exclusive after party at Soho House’s Brighton Beach House.
The event marks the beginning of a major new cultural partnership between The Adelaide Salon and Royal Pavilion & Museums Brighton & Hove, introducing a new model of artistic patronage and philanthropy designed to support future heritage and contemporary arts programming across Brighton and Sussex.
Founded by Paulina Anzorge and Pascal Dowers in their seafront Hove home, The Adelaide Salon has rapidly become one of Sussex’s most talked-about underground cultural movements. Inspired by the intellectual salons of Paris, their artistic, musical and philosophical gatherings have reimagined the historic salon tradition for the 21st century, replacing candlelit literary circles with immersive contemporary art, design provocative discussion, live music and interdisciplinary performance.
“The Adelaide Salon takes inspiration from the great salons of Paris of the 19th century. spaces where artists, writers and philosophers gathered to debate, perform and spark cultural revolutions. Dowers and Anzorge’s interpretation is distinctly modern. Gone are powdered wigs and candlelight; instead, evenings at The Adelaide Salon feature immersive performances, bold contemporary art and dialogue that resonates with today’s cultural moment.”
Lee Sharrock for Forbes
The choice of venue is particularly fitting. Originally conceived by King George IV Royal Pavilion has long stood as one of Britain’s most radical architectural landmarks. Built in the late 18th century and famed for its opulent Indo-Chinese interiors, the Pavilion was created as a palace for spectacle, creativity and indulgence, making it the perfect backdrop for this new generation of artistic experimentation.
Throughout the evening, guests can expect live art interventions across the Pavilion’s historic rooms, intimate musical encounters, digital works, fashion moments, specially curated performances, newly composed music and unexpected collaborations between artists working across disciplines. An exclusive afterparty will follow at Brighton Beach House by Soho House.
Blending heritage with cutting-edge contemporary culture, the inaugural Royal Pavilion Brighton & Adelaide Salon Art Gala promises to be one of the defining arts events of 2026 – an unforgettable celebration of creativity, collaboration and cultural reinvention in the heart of Brighton.
Art by: Stanley Donwood & Thom Yorke, Delaine Le Bas, Graham Dean, The Baron Gilvan, Jessica van der Weert, Helen Beard, Amy Dury, Dion Salvador Lloyd, Paulina Anzorge, Tony Mentel, Marcelina Amelia, Darvish, Phil Tylor, Simon Roberts, Sarah Shaw,
Sculpture: Julian wild, Dani Zwinger, Mandeep, Isobel Smith, Arabel Lebreusen, Malgorzata Dloniak,
Video Art: Viv Almas
Performance Art from: Delaine Le Bas, Natasha Higdon & The Writers Mark, Isobel Smith, Darvish, Aisling Zambon, Andy Ash, Shirley Archibald, Joseph Young, Miriam King, Lady Barbara Ayozie Fu Safira, Bob Dixon, Lucy Newman, Dani Zwinger, Mr Woody Green
Music: Director & Performer- Tim Lea Young with a String Quartet, Adam Freeland (The Acid), David Chappel, Kwaye, The Baron Gilvan & Foz, Robinson Village and many more.
Main Sponsors : The Ivy in the Laines and Ivy Asia Brighton
Key sponsors: Sipsmith, Charlotte Tilbury, Electric London,, Be Chocolat, Mercure Hotels, Roebuck Estates, Cass Art
Media partners: Culturalee and ROSA.
