Brighton Mod Weekend Every August to die for!

An experience in Brighton you will not forget: Brighton Mod Weekend!

So - have you heard of Mod Weekend? I suspect not. I did not either until as recent as August 2021. 

Once I came out of Lockdown and visited Brighton AND HOVE city as frequently as I could, I began to plan my schedule to see what was out there to explore. I am in the mood to seek excitement and share it with you.

Just to top up my excitement, yes in Brighton AND HOVE, I must emphasise, since Hove is my second residency, I  found out what was available on the last weekend of August 2021.

I flicked through lots of holiday guidebooks on Sussex and most importantly on Brighton AND HOVE. Oh, hang on, there were several references to the Mod Weekend in August.  I raised my left eyebrow because my muscles in the right brow do not have the strength to raise it independently from the left, unfortunately. 

Anyway, I Googled online to get a sniff of the event a bit more.  I found a glamorous hipster leaflet where a cool dude rides a cool bike with a cool girlfriend.  You can see the leaflet below. It stated:

‘new untouchables present: Brighton on August 2021. Brighton Mod Weekender.

As you can imagine a lot was going on during the weekend:

Friday night:

'For Dancers only'

Saturday:

'Out of Time'

Sunday:

'Brighton Got Soul.'

I was interested in none of these things but only in Mod bikes, fashion and the ambiance of their culture on the streets of Brighton AND HOVE.

So what did I do? I ran out of my posh flat where once frequently visited by King Edward, Queen Victoria's naughty son, who himself visited Brighton AND HOVE when he needed to do his 'hanky panky outside of Buckingham Place. I walked out of Kings Gardens and ran at first. I was carrying too many things with me: a camera (actually two cameras), a tripod, a bag, a water bottle and so many others things. I could not run any longer.

I  hired and hopped on Brighton Council's  BTN Bike. You must download an app and register first though. Anyway, I hopped on the bike quickly, and cycled to the Brighton Pier. I got there in no more than 10 min. It was there that I  saw beautiful classic Vespas; I called them 'Cinderellas', paraded with their owners by the Sussex coast.  There were hundreds of them. I could be wrong, it could even be in their thousands. You could also smell freshness petrol these bikes were fuming. I have never seen such a scene in my life!  

All the bikes were Vespas too, every single one of them. Pure Italian-made, classical, making bee sounds all at once, in a row, one after another showing off, and many of them were parked on pavements for this occasion. It was like a Bazaar in Calcutta but by this coast!  Men and women dressed so glamorously that they put my clothing to shame.  

Suddenly, out of the blue, a man made an announcement with a megaphone in the middle of the road. 

‘We are going to Roaden Cafe!’

It was then all the Vespa wallahs started making their move one after another up the hill.  I had no BNT bike to fall back on by this time. I had to walk on my feet uphill, by the coast, to the destination two miles away on foot with my gadgets on both hands and shoulder.  Guess what, I did it! With sweat under 30% degree heat,  I walked into the middle of another spectator.

Again, when I got there, Vespa fashionistas were already assembled in clusters. It was impossible for me to know where to start my photography and film project. Everything was just shimmering. Just when I was daydreaming about my surrounding, a middle-aged man, very stylishly suited came up to me and said:

‘Oulright maite?’

Politely, I said, ‘I am fine - thank you.’ 

It was then I suggested:

‘Can I interview you?’. He took a few seconds to think and nodded. I asked him about Mod's culture and history. He also explained about the Mod Weekend.

After interviewing him, the Mods began to make their way back down to where I met them earlier a few miles away. I just took pictures and shots as they moved gently from the area.

I really wanted to go with them. Unfortunately, I did not have the means of transport for a swift response. I had to wait until a local Sussex bus turned up to take me near to where King Edward would go for 'hanky panky' again.