The Great Escape turns 20 as BIMM marks its biggest involvement yet
This year’s Great Escape (TGE) was a special one. The festival celebrated its 20th anniversary, and we were proud to be celebrating with them as the lead education partner.
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Across three packed days, BIMM students and alumni performed on seafront stages, in grassroots venues, at busking spots, and across official showcases. It was also BIMM’s biggest year at TGE to date, with more stages, more artists, more alumni, and more opportunities for students to get in front of new audiences and industry professionals than ever before.
Photo by @mickeyhyper
Ebony Osailah helps kick things off
We kicked things off with the BIMM TGE Opening Party at Soundwaves on the Beach. Set against the Brighton seafront and right next to the main stage, the showcase featured a talented, multi-genre line-up of student artists.
@bimm_music_instituteThat post-BIMM Live feeling 🔥
Among those performing was rising R&B artist Ebony Osailah. Talking about TGE, Osailah added:
“Opening The Great Escape was genuinely one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. It was a huge bucket list moment for me as a musician.
“There’s definitely a community between the BIMM artists at Great Escape. Everybody was watching each other’s sets and supporting one another. Every single band there was just so excited and grateful to be there.”
Day one closes at Hope & Ruin
Day one ended with BIMM graduate Lonnie Gunn performing at Hope & Ruin, one of more than 20 BIMM alumni acts appearing at the festival this year.
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The next day, our activity spread further into Brighton. Student artists performed at the BIMM Busking Stage at the Zip Wire Café, bringing stripped-back acoustic sets to the seafront.
Elsewhere, North Laine Brewhouse hosted a full showcase of BIMM acts as part of The Alternative Escape. Students were also working behind the scenes across the festival in production, artist liaison, and stage management.
Plus, we hosted an industry networking event at the Leonardo Hotel on Brighton seafront, bringing students, artists, and music professionals together.
Final day of The Great Escape
On the third and final day, the festival closed with the annual BIMM Showcase at Dust, which has become one of the standout moments of BIMM’s Great Escape activity since launching in 2015.
Artists, alumni, and industry guests came together to celebrate emerging talent, with BBC Radio 1 DJ Swarzy returning to host the event. Bringing artists from numerous BIMM campuses together at one of the world’s leading festivals for new music is always very special, as it gives students the chance to perform in front of new audiences and connect with the wider industry.
Speaking about the value of performing at The Great Escape, Swarzy said:
“It’s a great gig and a great place to be playing. The industry is literally all in one place. You don’t know who’s in the audience, and you don’t know what kind of conversations are happening across the room.”
For our students, it was another chance to perform in front of new audiences, meet people from all corners of the industry, and be part of one of the most important weekends in the new music calendar.
Another huge year for BIMM at The Great Escape. Thank you to everyone who made it happen.
Want to be part of opportunities like this? Explore our music courses and find your place at BIMM.
