What many people think of as the "Brighton Festival" is actually a number of festivals that all take place in the city during May; in particular the main Brighton Festival and its unprogrammed, ever growing Fringe. Here, ThreeWeeks provides a guide to the festivals that make up the Festival, and offers some tips on how to navigate what's on offer.

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The main Brighton Festival is itself the largest festival of its kind in England, and it celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006. But, despite reaching middle age, it doesn't seem to be in danger of losing any of its sense of fun and adventure.

Founded in 1967 (and getting off to a grand start with year one performances from Lawrence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins and conductor and violinist Yehudi Menuhin), the aim of the festival was originally stated by founding Artistic Director Ian Hunter, who said "The aim is to stimulate townsfolk and visitors into taking a new look at the arts and to give them the opportunity to assess developments in the field of culture where the serious and the apparently flippant ride side by side". That ethos remains pretty much the same today.

The main Brighton Festival is a fully-programmed event. In 2009 a Guest Artistic Director concept was introduced, whereby a different cultural innovator is invited to put together the festival's programme each year. In 2009 the Guest Director was Anish Kapoor, while in 2010 it will be Brian Eno. more>>

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