Brighton Mod Weekender 2016

Since 1964 Brighton has been regarded my many as the spiritual home of Mod. A perception that’s been enhanced and immortalised on screen by the film Quadrophenia. New Untouchables revived Brighton as a mod Weekender some 12 years ago. Initially attracting hundreds, as the years rolled by those hundreds became thousands and thousands. Peaking numbers wise in 2014, a celebration of 50 years on from 1964. Though it was Whitsun 1964, not August, that’s really splitting hairs. New Untouchables host a multitude of successful club nights, events and  weekenders in both the UK and Europe. Testimony to their popularity being the flagship venue, with three allnighters in Brighton for some years now have sold out in advance. Which has led to New Untouchables booking Sticky Mikes Frog Bar for those with a taste for all things psychedelic, as well as daytime focal point, Volks as satellite venues.

As numbers have grown outside promoters, as well entrupenerial types with a mod leaning, have moved in on Brighton August bank holiday weekend offering all manner of live and DJ driven entertainment. Aimed at providing something different, or to cash in on the mod pound. Entertainment is subjective, as in to each their own, most tastes are catered for, to a lesser or greater degree, over the Brighton mod weekender. Assuming you can get a ticket for your choice of entertainment. Being the unofficial capital of the mod world, Brighton has a number of outlets catering for the mod fraternity. Shops and outlets located in the Lanes area as well as the seafront. Modern world art Gallery has expanded operations to now providing a cafe bar a few doors down from Volks. As well as being involved with the interactive open top bus tour, (visiting both 1964 places of interest and locations from the film Quadrophenia), for this year they were behind a charity fundraising mini festival on the first level on Madeira Drive.

Although not advertised in anyway as a scooter rally, the Brighton mod weekender attracts many many thousand ‘interested’ people, and  in excess of 2500 scooters. Varying from chrome bedecked 60s classics to contemporary automatics such as GTS’ and Scomadi’s , as well as just about every style of scooter in between too.

Friday and Saturday daytimes there is always an impressive spectacle on the seafront, which traditionally is eclipsed and surpassed by the sheer amount of people and scooters on Sunday daytime. The seafront gathering peaks around 2pm, boosted invariably by some scooterists en route home from Isle of Wight scooter rally. Following the presentation of trophys from the scooter competition, the annual rideout to Beachy Head sets off along Madeira Drive around 3pm. With the cast iron arches fenced off to the public, making Madeira Drive narrower than usual, it was bordering on dangerous this year, attempting to ride through a gauntlet of tourists and interested parties bun fighting each other to grab shots of the mods on their smart phones! Once out of the first few hundred meters riding conditions are thankfully restored to normal conditions. Brighton mod weekender 2016 was as busy as, if not more so, than last year. With the number of scooters maintaining seriously impressive numbers too.

Sarge