Brighton’s bohemian bus seeks to spread a little happiness

“We’re happies not hippies,“ is the message driving through the streets of Brighton on the side of a bus. The bright geometric colours sported by the latest of Brighton & Hove Buses’ special edition buses are a celebration the south coast resort’s bohemian lifestyle.

The artwork has been designed by artists Art+Believe, who previously painted the Old Steine Bus shelter in front of Brighton Pavilion for the bus company.

Brighton & Hove Buses marketing manager Carole Richmond explains the new artwork has been inspired by a campaign in Chile that sought to make people think before stereotyping others.

“The ‘happies not hippies’ story originated in Valparaiso in Chile where the artists who painted the bus were travelling and painting,” she said. "The people of Valparaiso were labelled as ‘hippies’ by the residents of the capital city in Santiago. The relationship between the two cities is not unlike London and Brighton. The phrase ‘happies not hippies’ was coined by a local man in Valparaiso to counter the negative connotation of the label ‘hippies’. The artists loved how the expression played with people’s attempts to negatively label others and chose to paint the words on a hillside in the city to brighten up some previously unloved and disused communal steps. 

“The artwork became a local and national sensation and the words began to resonate with people all over South America. We thought this was a beautiful story and one that we too could fall in love with in Brighton. We too wanted to celebrate a bohemian lifestyle and expose the negative side of labelling. It’s such a powerful message and we thought Brighton could be a great home for it. So we decided to welcome it to our range of featured buses that like our Diversity Bus celebrates inclusivity and the richness of life in our city.”