Brighton Festival is the largest event of its kind in England. Now in its fifth decade, it has become one of the major milestones in the cultural calendar, bringing an international mix of exclusive events, world and UK premieres, special one-off commissions and endless hours of entertainment to the city by the sea. Brighton is always alive and vibrant but it comes into a league of its own during the festival.

Brighton Festival has a growing reputation as the most exciting commissioning and producing arts festival in the UK creating work specifically for and about Brighton. It offers a unique programme of the highest quality, celebrating both locally based Brighton creative talents as well as showcasing the best national and international artists. The Festival also delights in exploring unusual spaces in Brighton for its site specific performances. 

The annual three week Brighton Festival started in 1967 and is now a leading commissioning and producing Festival which attracts over 300,000 attendances each year and contributes £20m to the local economy. The first Festival in 1967 controversially included the first ever exhibition of Concrete Poetry in the UK, alongside performances by Lawrence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins and Yehudi Menuhin

Brighton Dome and Festival Ltd, which produces the annual Brighton Festival  also manages Brighton Dome year round and is a single charitable trust employing 75 permanent and 200 casual staff with an annual turnover of £6m.

Brighton Festival is funded by Brighton & Hove City Council, Arts Council England and through the sponsorship department which raises over £500k annually

The Artistic Director for 2010 is Brian Eno,  Eno worked for NASA and crafted the Windows 95 start up noise. His music career has ranged from the early success in Roxy Music to fathering the ambient music movement, to producing some illustrious groups including U2, David Bowie and Coldplay. He has also created three successful iphone apps linked to his work, and in 2009 curated The Sydney Opera House’s Luminous Festival.