Since we welcomed Eastbourne Theatres to the Trafalgar family in April, our teams have been working collaboratively to highlight this exciting new chapter and position our three iconic venues – the Congress Theatre, Devonshire Park Theatre, and the Winter Garden as cultural destinations not just in Sussex, but on the national stage. 

We’ve embraced the theme of  A New Era at Eastbourne Theatres, with a clear ambition to attract even more high-profile productions and to establish Eastbourne as the starting point for national tours. 

A key part of this repositioning has been to openly celebrate Eastbourne’s virtues as a vibrant town – a thriving creative hub – and a magnet for a growing number of significant events and cultural initiatives.  

A recent article in The Argus  ‘Little Town Sunshine: How Eastbourne is Dazzling the World‘ highlighted these developments, noting that the town’s average age is now 43 and that it boasts a strong sense of community and family life. You can read the full article here: Little Town Sunshine: How Eastbourne is dazzling the world | The Argus 

To amplify Eastbourne’s evolving identity on a national level, we’ve been developing a major campaign with the Eastbourne team and the Airbourne Eastbourne International Airshow as a centrepiece. This flagship event draws over 750,000 visitors across four days and was the perfect opportunity to showcase Eastbourne Theatres to a broader audience. 

Trafalgar Theatres proudly became a gold sponsor of the Airshow – ensuring excellent coverage and promotion of the venues and their revitalised programme throughout the event. As part of our sponsorship, we worked directly with one of the performing pilots, Rich Goodwin, even branding his aircraft with promotion for Fiddler on the Roof. A GoPro mounted on the plane captured breath-taking aerial footage, with Eastbourne Theatres prominently featured, symbolising how we’re quite literally taking the venues to new heights. 

Many of the team were on-site to experience the Airshow first-hand, with exhilarating displays from a range of aircraft, culminating each day with the iconic Red Arrows. We also welcomed The Play What I Wrote stars Joe Pasquale and Michael Praed for press interviews and promotion. (Fun fact: Michael Praed grew up in Eastbourne and attended Eastbourne College, while Joe Pasquale holds a pilot’s licence!) 

A professional film crew was also in attendance, creating a video trailer that will soon be shared, alongside vibrant content captured by our in-house team to reflect the energy of the event and the town. 

Be sure to follow our social media channels for a sneak peek of the Airshow highlights and stay tuned for more exciting production news coming soon.