Racket sports festival planned for beachside park

A padel and racket sports tournament will be held in Hove Beachside Park

A Brighton beachside park will host a racket sport festival this week to try and introduce the sport to new players.

Trilogy Rackets Festival will take place in Hove Beach Park from Monday 21 – Sunday 27 July to promote tennis, padel and pickleball to people in the city.

The event comes after the opening of the £13.7m park, which includes tennis and padel courts, and will include visits from tennis star Judy Murray and former Wimbledon doubles champion Jonathan Marray.

Barry Fulcher, founder of The Progress Tour which is hosting the event, says the event is "bringing together racket enthusiasts as well as the local community in a celebration of sport, community and education".

During the week-long festival, racket sport players can take part in tournaments as well as receiving workshops from coaches and experts, including former Fed Cup captain Murray, mother to Grand Slam winners Andy and Jamie Murray.

The event will also feature exhibition matches from pro players alongside music and pop-up food and drinks stalls.

Hove Beach Park's padel courts opened in December 2024 ahead of the full opening of the park in May.

The park was mostly paid for by a £9.5m grant from the government's Levelling Up fund and also features a BMX track, skate park and new café.

Padel became one of the largest growing sports in the UK, with more than 30 millions players across the world.

In Brighton, more than 1,000 people signed a petition calling for indoor tennis courts not to be replaced with padel courts after plans for more facilities at the Withdean Sports Complex were mooted by Brighton and Hove City Council.