Entertainment in Eastbourne

Click through for our Eastbourne theatres page to find out more on the Royal Hippodrome Theatre, the Winter Garden, the Devonshire Park Theatre and more.

An amazing open-air 1,600-capacity live music venue that was built in 1935, the Bandstand hosts over 150 concerts each year spanning orchestral music, tribute acts and themed events, with the beach and sea beyond making for a stunning backdrop. The most popular nights include Last Night of the Proms and the annual Firework Night event, with most of the events taking place during spring and summer.

A new entertainment space opened in 2015, Printers Playhouse is a small theatre, music and workshop venue located on Grove Road, a short walk from the train station. Music fans should head for their dedicated live music venue, Downstairs at the Printers, which puts on regular acoustic shows and local bands.

At the other end of Grove Road is The Under Ground Theatre, a 150-capacity alternative music, theatre and arts space that’s also part of the Little Chelsea community. Open for live music, album releases, acoustic shows and more, the theatre is located underneath the Central Library.

Held at the end of June each year, the Eastbourne International at Devonshire Park is one of the UK’s leading tennis tournaments. Past winners include Martina Navratilova, Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic, as some of the world’s best players come together for the week-long grass court tournament largely considered to be the warm-up tournament before Wimbledon. Located to the south of the centre but still in the heart of Eastbourne, the tennis club is just a short walk from our Town Centre hotel.

Nine miles to the north of the town centre, Arlington Stadium is the place to come to vent any simmering road rage. Located near Hailsham and our Eastbourne Polegate hotel, the concrete oval race track with banked corners is home to banger racing, stock cars, ninja karts and more. If you’ve never seen banger racing before, it’s deceptively simple. You win the race by crashing – that’s willingly crashing – into opponents, as well as being the quickest around the track, or by being the last one standing. It’s silly amounts of fun, and with hot dog stands, a licensed clubhouse and grass banking for sunny days, it’s a fun way to spend an hour or so.

Home to Eastbourne Borough who play their football in the Conference South league (effectively the sixth tier of the English league system), Priory Lane is a 4,151-capacity stadium that was built in 1983. The stadium has two bars – the Sports Bar and Happy Jacks Bar – and parking for around 400 cars at the River End car park.