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Until the 29 May, Brighton and Hove is full to the brim with an explosion of events across the city.

This year's programme of events is in celebration of Guest Director – Aung San Suu Kyi and her passionate plea for peace in Burma… see this post here for more on this great human rights campaigner.

Aung San Suu Kyi – the courageous leader, human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize winner – has fought passionately for democracy in Burma and taken to the heart of this year’s Festival is her plea ‘use your liberty to promote ours’.

…The high fence is back, separating her house from the lake it stands beside – but this time it has been erected by her own people to protect her, not to lock her in. How free is Aung San Suu Kyi, five months after her 15 years of house arrest ended? Not very; or free as a bird, depending on how you ask the question….Read the full interview in the Argus when Andrew Comben, the chief executive of Brighton Festival and Dome, and Polly Toynbee, the chair of Brighton Festival, travelled to Burma to meet Ms Suu Kyi and to speak to her about the important messages of the 2011 event.

The AOH May Festival takes place over four weekends of May and celebrates the 30^th Year of the Artists Open Houses.

2011 is the biggest festival yet with over 250 venues taking part across the Brighton area:

•        – May 7th & 8th
•        – May 14th & 15th
•        – May 21st & 22nd
•        – May 28th & 29th

All the Trails, Venues and Artists are available to view here:

Brochures will be available at: The Dome box office, Brighton and Hove libraries and stations, and at all Artists Open Houses, as well as other brochure pick-up points around the town. Look out for the AOH leaflet containing detailed venue map – available citywide from mid April.

And click here to get the latest version of the AOH iPhone app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Since being founded in 2006, The Great Escape is now known internationally as a great event for showcasing new music. Taking place in Brighton 12th to 14th May The Great Escape kick starts the Brighton Festival season, introducing 15,000 music lovers to the key artists and sounds of the year.

With over 300 bands playing in 30 venues over 3 days, The Great Escape is a key date in the music calendar. In addition to pre-publicised performances, impromptu street gigs spring up all over town. The Alternative Escape, numerous club nights, label parties, industry showcases, unique collaborations and outdoor gigs all add to the festivities.

Click here for TGE web site…

Festival dates Sat 1– Sun 23 May Call 01273 709709 or visit the ticket office at 29 New Road, Brighton Guest Artistic Director – Brian Eno Artist, cultural thinker and producer Brian Eno will be making his mark on Brighton Festival as the Festival's Guest Artistic Director for 2010. 'I wouldn’t have wanted to curate a Festival in any other city' Brian Eno on being invited to be Guest Artistic Director for Brighton Festival 'Brian Eno is the guest artistic director of an event that gets more ambitious by the year' Sunday Times

There are now two Open House festivals during the year, Summer (May) and Christmas (November/December).

The main Open Houses Festival takes place over the first four weekends in May, during the Brighton Festival.

More than 1,000 artists exhibit their work at over 200 venues, spread across the city of Brighton and Hove and the surrounding area. This is the biggest event of its kind in the country and has been running since Ned Hoskins first opened his house to the public in 1982.

In 2010, the festival dates will be May 1^st, 2^nd, 8^th, 9^th, 15^th, 16^th, 22^nd and 23^rd.