Eastbourne’s iconic bandstand will be 90 this year and continues to undergo major repairs to make it safe. Eastbourne Borough Council spent £750,000 to repair the stage and other areas two years ago and will spend £1.1 million this year strengthening the underlying structure. With the summer concert season about to start amid safety hoardings, community reporter Berenice Pringle, a volunteer with the Friends of Eastbourne Seafront, takes a personal look at this seafront landmark.
What’s going on in summer 2025?
The new concert season launches over the Easter weekend with an Ultimate 90’s night (sold out), then on Sunday (April 20) a free afternoon concert by the Eastbourne Silver Band followed by an Elton John tribute concert in the evening.
The usual mix of tribute acts, traditional band concerts, including the 1812 Fireworks performances on Wednesdays, and kids’ disco parties will be on offer this year.
Due to the preparation for works, the main arena audience capacity has been reduced to 500, so people are encouraged to book early. As was the case last year, there are no covered seating areas.
A member of the Seafront Office team said that the bandstand must ensure the shows are profitable. They have reduced the frequency of the traditional concerts and chosen to stage the most popular tribute acts. Fees for acts and bandstand staffing costs have all risen.
The council says more than 100 shows are planned for 2025 summer season, with only four events in October not taking place to ensure the works are completed in time for 2026.
What does the restoration work involve?
The Grade II-listed bandstand replaced a former Victorian structure as part of a seafront improvement programme. It cost £28,000 to build and the opening concert in August 1935 was attended by 8,000 people.
Winter storms and sea air over the course of nearly a century have damaged the plaster, tiles and metal structure. The semi-circular colonnades on the beach side and the upper and lower covered areas (shelters) on the promenade have been declared unsafe and are blocked off.
The council is spending £1.1 million demolishing the promenade shelter and protecting the beach level shelters. These areas are closed for safety over the summer; work will start in October for about six months.
The council has said that, while there won’t be access to the lower and upper shelters in 2025, up to 530 people will still be able to sit or stand in the ground-floor viewing area; a similar number attended the most popular shows in 2024.
There will still be access along the middle promenade and through the bandstand seating area during the summer.
What is the council’s approach to the bandstand?
The council maintains it is strongly committed to repairing and maintaining the bandstand.
It delayed the start of the works to allow the summer concert season to take place. It is understood that it has sought funding for current works and is consulting with English Heritage about other possible grants.
Councillor Jenny Williams, Cabinet member for heritage, culture and seafront, stated in a press release last month: “We continue to maintain the bandstand for our residents and visitors, and I’m delighted the summer season of shows will continue this year and next year as planned.
“We have allocated £1.1 million in the budget to safely remove the shelter roofs and columns during the off-season and reopen the bandstand for the 2026 season.
“Councils across the UK, including Eastbourne, are dealing with the greatest financial challenges in generations, but our commitment to maintaining the bandstand is as strong as ever.”
In a cost-of-living crisis, do heritage assets matter?
With the many demands on council money, far-reaching cuts to budgets already, is protecting the seafront heritage assets still important?
The Friends of Eastbourne Seafront is a group of volunteers who work to promote and preserve the seafront. It was originally formed as the Friends of Eastbourne Bandstand but has widened its remit and has a large Welcome Team to greet visitors, plus volunteer gardeners maintaining flowerbeds.
The Friends say our seafront is the main visitor attraction and the focal points are the bandstand and pier. Historic buildings need to be maintained and each generation has a duty to protect them.
Tourism also remains an important sector of employment in the town.
Russell Owen, chair of the Eastbourne Local History Society, was asked at the society’s recent annual meeting about his views on the bandstand. He said it would probably be cheaper to knock it down and re-build it on the Western Lawns.
Mr Owen also said he believed that in future, it will not just be up to councils to look after our heritage assets. Non-profit Community Interest Companies (CICs) could take over, applying for funding and possibly getting work done at a lower cost than local authorities.
The Friends of Eastbourne Bandstand CIC was set up in June 2022 by a former councillor with Eastbourne Borough Council, who has since moved away. It is currently listed as dormant.
What about the future?
Bluntly put, it’s a case of use it or lose it for the bandstand.
There is unlikely to be a big party to celebrate the bandstand’s 90th birthday this summer; there’s no mention of it in the printed events programme.
However, ahead of its 100th birthday in 2035, residents must work together to find ways to restore it as a vibrant, unique 21st century venue of which Eastbourne can be proud.
The public must support the bandstand as a venue and fight for its survival: we cannot leave it to the council to take the lead on what happens to it.
In the reorganisation of local authorities in the coming two years, will a greater Sussex authority prioritise a bandstand by the sea requiring substantial maintenance?
It is not enough to restore heritage just to look at a pretty, blue art deco-tiled dome with a silver spire; it has to have a purpose as an outdoor venue.
The ultimate question is not what is happening at the bandstand, but what are we going to do for the bandstand?
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