Fact: The Brighton Festival is England’s biggest arts festival. Yes, feel free to re-read that. Obviously, it’s not Britain’s (that’s Edinburgh by quite some distance) but it’s properly big. The thing is, as a Brightonian and a regular festival goer (both here in Brighton and up in Edinburgh) I always notice that the circus rolls in and out of town with barely a squeak from the locals. There’s a reason for this; Brighton is pretty much a festival town all year round, so May’s events seem to be a touch of ‘more of the same’; and we’re all the happier for that. This is only a city of 250,000 (when we include Hove, bless them), yet Brightonians will still make up the majority of every festival show’s audience. That’s no mean feat.

However, it’s an excellent proposition to an out-of-towner, and those people who have decided to take the plunge and immerse themselves in culture this May, will frankly love it. As a festival old hand, my top recommendations for the uninitiated are as follows; shun the pier and the arcades; they’re available all year round. Instead, get yourself onto a tour of the Victorian sewers under Brighton. Otherwise, go and see some comedy; the Fringe’s comedy section is 3 times larger than any previous year; it’s even double the size of Brighton’s dedicated Comedy Festival in October. Daytime, virtually all the parades are worthwhile as there’s an unmistakable carnival feel about the city, and go and see an Open House or 3, if only to sniff round what sort of home a full time artist can afford.

Finally, join one of the two main casinos on your first day (Grosvenor on East Street, next to the coach station, or Rendezvous at Brighton Marina). They both do decent food at excellent prices late at night and the atmosphere midweek is chilled and welcoming. And if you’re just too wasted or badly dressed to stomach a gaming hall, the culinary challenge of the Gutbuster from the Market Diner on Circus Street is essential, and they’re open until the sun comes up. In the old days you’d get your money back if you could eat three of them in a row. Go on, try it. If only to give your friends a story that will haunt you for decades.

Stephen Grant – Second, Komedia, 14 May, 10:30pm, £12.50 (£10), fpp 21

Krater Comedy Club, Komedia, dates, times and prices vary, fpp18