St Augustine's Centre, St Augustines Church Brighton reviews by real event-goers

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Great experience, very enjoyable and nice drinks. Hope they do another one next year as well!

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Just a themed club night with a single overworked bartender, I have no idea what part of this event was supposed to be a ball. The live violin music in the begining should have been the music theme for the rest of the night instead of the switch to... techno club music??

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Amazing location, the string quartet and the winged creatures on arrival were wonderful touches , everyone wore wonderful outfits and some great photos opportunities. It was super friendly night. I go to a lot of balls and there is always some queues at the bar as people arrived but sadly this one did not reduced as the night went on and it was a bit overpriced to get a wine served in a cardboard cup, which does not really go with the vampire aesthetic of the night. The music was not to my taste but that i knew before buying the tick*ts, so i knew what to expect , every time i went to the dancefloor room people were happily dancing in that incredible space. Perhaps the main entry room could have been used for some dancing too or some of the shows as it was difficult to see or access them in the other room. A timetable would have been useful to not missed the shows. I think announcements or at least some compering would have made the costume competitions at the end clearer, couldn't not really hear much. However being the first one, i was impressed by the location, some lovely touches and i did end up have a lovely night and weekend in brighton as a result. I would return

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Whilst there were some teething problems, I can hand on heart say I had the absolute best time at this event. The atmosphere was 10 out of 10 for me, & the lighting, props and setting were just absolutely beautiful. The people were so lovely, and the costumes were fantastic. It felt a really safe space, and full of people just there to have the best time.

Some reviews have suggested better signposting to acts that were taking place would have been helpful. Or having compare or a lineup of what was on that night and what time and where etc. This I definitely agree, (I've only found out via reviews that there was a fire show in the garden haha) however, that didn't take away anything for me and actually my friend and I really enjoyed just stumbling across things anyway.

The problems that were there (at this very first event) I think could easily be tweaked and improved for next time, and I for one will absolutely be there again. (Try and keep me away from a glam-goth immersive event).

I hope the organiser doesn't lose heart. There was so many people I heard saying they were having an amazing time. And that was definitely the impression I left with myself.

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

The event was extremely overpriced, ill thought out and lacked any semblance of accountability.

We were misinformed about pricing before hand on the day(for the cloakroom) of the event & the entertainment on the evening. It felt like no effort was put into to think about how the event would happen on the night itself. Basic things like toilet facilities and buying drinks were thoroughly under staffed.

This felt like an amateurs first attempt at organising anything, whilst trying to make as much money as possible.

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

I used to go to Vampire Festivities in Prague, Rome and Vienna, and this one is on is best way to rival these European events. There are not many Gothic events near me, so this adventure was comforting and exciting, making me love my peers even more. Thank you so much for organising this ?-?🦇?-?

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

I was unfortunately pretty disappointed with the event- I had been looking forward to the ball and was expecting an opulent affair, but was met instead with a crowded venue, endless queues, and nothing much to do.
None of the acts were announced prior, so we missed most of them, and the ones we caught by chance were completely packed in a tiny room and we could barely glimpse at what was happening;
The walk around entertainers were... absents? I didn't see a single person entertaining the crowds, so we were just all standing around waiting for som**hing to happen.
The highlight was the attendees, as everyone was looking great and had wonderful costumes.
I hope the organiser will take everyone's feedback on board for their next event, as they had a great vision but unfortunately it wasn't well executed.

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

The Ball promised more than it delivered which was a real shame.
The venue was good, the people had put so much effort into costumes-they looked amazing!
Bar facilities were woeful-we queued over 45 minutes for a drink, the acts were scrunched down at the end in a small space...you could only properly see anything if you were in the first few rows. There was no music and no dance floor which was surprising for a ball. There were some nice props for photo opportunities. The evening started well with a sense of expectation and delight but after about 11pm the atmosphere dropped as there was nothing to do......it felt as if the promoters had tried hard but had no idea of how to run an event at this scale......I'd love to see this event again but with proper, experienced organisation. It had so much potential.....

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Really, really enjoyed this. The venue was *amazing*, and the string quartet and performers sat perfectly in the high-vaulted-ceiling room they were in. The vibe was great, everyone dressed flawlessly, and got some AMAZING photos. The punch was awesome too. Will be ravenously seeking out any other similar events.

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

This event was oversold and completely under delivered. At the most basic level 400-500 tick*ts were sold for an event promising entertainment, including a string quartet, burlesque acts, interactive performers and music. The venue it was hosted in only held about 45-100 people safely in the area that the above took place, leaving the rest of the participants milling around in an area by the bar, the queue for which took over half an hour most of the night because it was so poorly prepared/staffed. There was no timetable of events and no compere and as the majority could not see into the performance area, very few had a clue what was happening and missed the small snippets of burlesque etc. Even the costume competition was done without a compere, a kind of point and clap affair! The costumes of the attendees were the only highlight of the event. Everyone had made such an effort, spent time and money, for such little reward.

The Facebook page was immediately taken down, with the excuse that it was linked to the organisers personal page. She was quite happy to promote everything from her personal page, and I suspect had it gone well the page would still be up promoting her and including the pictures from the photographers she engaged to attend. When attendees have managed to contact her there has been a list of excuses, some of which I agree were unavoidable, but no ownership of the fact, that as stated above, tick*ts were sold for an event where only approximately ¼ of the audience could actually see the production they paid for, and to top it all when frustrations were shared on line, some attendees were 'trolled' by the organisers mother!

Stay away from the organiser Skye Del La Mer and her company Glow Wing Productions.

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Too many people for the size of the space, it was mainly a hall with people cueing for overpriced drinks to no music. The entertainment was only visible to a very small amount of people stood at the front.

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Amazing evening, everyone made such a big effort and there was such a good vibe! Loved it!

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

The seating was severely lacking, so too bad for folks with disabilities. I hope if one is ever done again they access needs are properly taken into account. The long lines for over priced drinks with one barman. No one wants to be waiting an hour to get a drink. The venue was far too small for the amount of people there. Apparently there was a raffle, but barely anyone got tick*ts on entry, so that was a bit fixed. Music should have been a more goth/darkwave/halloween tunes/even emo themed for such an event. For the price of the tick*ts and the promises it made in the build up, it left a lot lacking and was rather disappointing.
The effort everyone made for their outfits was absolutely brilliant, but sadly that was the highlight, rather than the event itself. If one ever happens again, the organisers need to learn from their mistakes instead of hiding them behind deleted messages and use it as constructive criticism. You only grow if you admit your losses and continue to climb

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

Review of The Vampire Ball - Brighton 1st November

So much potential.

The music was mismatched

The venue was lovely but way too small for the event the few acts ,as good as they were couldn't be seen by the majority, there were no roving performances apart from the fire show outside, the bar was not suitable for the amount of people who were there.

The saddest thing seems to be though, that the organiser seems not to be taking the polite legitimate reviews and acknowledging the issues, it's leaving potential returnees deciding that they will not be returning.