TagFest Brighton 2025 Review

The ‘Sunny South East’ lived up to its name once again on Saturday 9th August hosting TagFest Brighton, which took place at Brighton Rugby Club on Waterhall Road. The one-day social tournament saw 360 Taggers across 32 teams all decked out in ‘Under the Sea’ costumes competing across a number of divisions and for special prizes such as Spirit of Tag for those bringing the best vibes to the event. As always, there was one main rule of the day (outside of the TTR Rulebook) and that was to bring good vibes only!

Alongside our local Brighton & Hove teams, we welcomed travelling teams from Coventry & Warwickshire and London, a number of referees and players who came from Bristol, Thames Valley and Ireland, and the team Zeelanders who came over all the way from the Netherlands especially for TagFest!

The sun was shining all day long and players were kept cool by the breeze which picked up a bit in the afternoon and made for some questionable passes not going to hand (definitely blame the wind). The crowds gathered and chilled out on deck chairs, both cheering and booing during the Cup Final a.k.a. The Tuaca Jug which saw a penalty try awarded and a yellow card – this game had it all! It was a super exciting end to an amazing tournament expertly refereed by Enyioma Anomelechi assisted by touch judges Sarah Sessions and Naomi Lee.

The after-party was a huge success held at Oculist with players still standing (just about) when the music stopped at 3am. We hope the hangovers were aided somewhat by the Nashi Pear Juice which promises that you won’t lose tomorrow…however we are not sure there is anything to cure the lull after such an amazing event finishes!

Tag Rugby
In the morning phase, teams competed in pools before moving into Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield divisions based on the results. Teams then played quarter finals, semi finals and finals/placing games to determine the final standings (listed below). We were very proud to see some of our local Brighton teams making it into the finals with Bad Flufferz being the first ever local team to lift a TagFest Brighton trophy in the Shield division.

Finals & The Tuaca Jug
Hyros 🌊 remained unbeaten across the whole day, with their closest game being against a strong Warwick Allstars team who they just about managed to see off in the quarter finals with a 4-3 win. They continued all the way to the Cup Final to secure their place as the second ever winners of The Tuaca Jug. At presentations, they were the first to lift the jug and drink the famous sweet nectar of Brighton & Hove. They shared this honour with the runners-up Brighton Tag Hoors, whose only aim all day seemed to be to get their hands on some of that liquid gold Tuaca, so I guess that is mission accomplished all round.

The final standings across all divisions can be found at the end of this article. 

Fancy Dress
The fancy dress theme of the event was ‘Under the Sea’ and it did not disappoint. During the presentations, entrants to the best dressed were invited to walk in the fancy dress parade and it came down to a crowd cheer vote between four contestants with Brighton Tag Hoors taking the win. Their team had everything from mermfolk, to lobsters and even Titan! There were some exceptional team outfits on show across the day with lots of effort gone into the preparation, so thanks to everyone who got involved. We’d like to give a special mention to Sharking Fintagstick who had the most fabulous hand-painted personalised t-shirts for their team mates (shout out to Becca and Bec). Next time, don’t forget to come and show them off in our fancy dress competition!

Spirit of Tag Award
In true TTR Brighton fashion, we awarded a Spirit of Tag prize to the team who had the best attitude both on and off the field and who brought the best vibes. This is one of the most important awards, if not the best one, to win in our opinion, because it’s one that everyone has the potential and chance to pick up regardless of their Tagging ability. We truly believe that the people and teams who bring the best vibes are the ones who lead the way in creating the inclusive, supportive and social community & culture that our region prides itself on. Huge thanks and congratulations to both Coventry and Warwick Allstars who were awarded a joint prize – you did your region very proud indeed.

Seagull Relay Races
Well well well, we thought this would be funny to watch but we were not prepared for just how much fun it was for both those competing but for the spectators who lined pitch 3 and experienced quite the spectacle. Players were invited to enter a team of four players to compete in a relay race which involved throwing a blow-up seagull and chasing after it. The wind made the return journeys practically impossible with seagulls literally flying everywhere. 

The winners in the end who completed the relay in the quickest time were simply named ‘Cool Guys’ and we just loved how much joy this silly lunchtime game brought to the event. The photos are worth a look.

Referees
We had a fantastic referee line-up with Naomi Lee, Manny Kwan, Ian Grey, Sarah Sessions, Enyioma Anomelechi, Claire Gould, Andy Taylor, David Shipley and Dwaine ‘Robbo’ Robertson officiating some excellent Tag Rugby games. They all did a cracking job and there was high praise all round. Once again, very nearly achieved our target of having at least 50% female referees, and will endeavour to hit that next year!

Congratulations to Sarah Sessions who picked up the ‘Referee of the Day’ award for an excellent day in the yellow shirt.

Photos
The photos from the day are available on the TTR Brighton & Hove Facebook Page – full photo album to follow.

Thank You
In addition to thanking all the players and referees, we would also like to extend our thanks to our event staff and partners for making the event such a success. A special thank you to Georgina, and all the team at Brighton Rugby Club for hosting us, to Trisha & Ronnie of T&R Medix for their care and attention to our players, to our vendors Maya Catering, Gourmet & Chill and Passione Napoletana, to team Nashi Pear Juice for doing their best to prevent player hangovers, and to Great British Deck Chairs for creating lovely festival vibes.

Finally, a huge shout out to our photographer Ryan Quinn who captured the essence, joy, love and seaside spectacle that was TagFest Brighton 2025. You can book Ryan for your own events here: www.ryanquinnphotography.com.

We hope everybody enjoyed the day and we already can’t wait for 2026!

FINAL STANDINGS

Cup
1 (Winners) Hydros 🌊
2 Brighton Tag Hoors
3 Pandas!
4 Try-Tanic
5 Tortoises
6 Warwick Allstars
7 High Berries
8 Manor Bin Juice – MBJ

Plate
1 (Winners) The Seagulls
2 Coventry Allstars
3 Tag Refest
4 Rolling in the Sweep
5 Faries
6 Stop Giving A Ruck
7 Scallitags
8 Sexy Fenders

Bowl
1 (Winners) C U Next Tournament
2 Cosmic Manatees
3 Zeelanders
4 The Dirty Ruckers
5 Taglor Swifts
6 99 Problems, tagfest ain’t one
7 Taggy Barlow
8 Mermaids and Mingers

Shield
1 (Winners) Bad Flufferz
2 No Sub-marines
3 Panic A Tagfest
4 Hakuna maTAGa 🙂
5 Try Babiez
6 Tuaca Hotshots
7 SpongeBob TagPants
8 Sharking Fintagstick

Seagull Relay Race
1 (Winners) Cool Guys – 42 seconds
2 Tuaca Hotshots – 48 seconds
3 Scallitags & C U Next Tournament – 49 seconds