This year's festival is set to include 150 events, exhibitions and installations from May 7-29. Of those, 36 events are free, 124 events or installations will take place indoors across multiple venues and 26 will take place outdoors across multiple sites or locations.
There will be 101 performances with tickets costing £10 or less and 10 events or digital projects will take place online.
All events can be booked online at brightonfestival.org where people can also explore the festival's full programme.
Flick through our gallery below to see what events and performances are taking place over the opening weekend.
1. The Children’s Parade: Saturday, May 7
2022 marks the return of the much-missed Children’s Parade, following an enforced absence. Jointly produced with award-winning community arts charity Same Sky, this riot of colour and creativity features 5000 school children journeying through the centre of the city. The parade starts at 10.30am in Jubilee Street and winds down to Madeira Drive on the seafront by way of Jubilee Street, New Road, North Street, East Street and Grand Junction Road, finishing at approximately 1pm. Pivoting around the Festival theme of Rebuilding, the parade celebrates the strength and resilience of local communities and what can be achieved when we listen and work together. The Children’s Parade is supported by Brighton Girls and Southern Water. Photo: David Bracey
2. The Riwaq: From Saturday, May 7 (until Sunday, May 29)
Festival Guest Co-Director architect and author Marwa Al-Sabouni has partnered with fellow architect Ghassan Jansiz to build a bespoke community space on Hove seafront, called The Riwaq – the Arabic word for colonnade. This unique temporary venue will offer an eclectic programme of free cultural and community events from Saturday 7 May, including family sessions, workshops, spoken word performances and music and dance from around the world. The Riwaq is supported by principal sponsor Moda Living and also Timber Development UK, and setWorks. Structural design is by Webb Yates Engineers, with additional support from DHH Timber and architecture curator & consultant Vanessa Norwood. Photo: Illustration by Marwa Al-Sabouni
3. Unchain Me: Saturday, May 7 & Sunday, May 8 (until Sunday, June 12)
Tristan Sharps’ site-responsive theatre company dreamthinkspeak stage the world premiere of a new Brighton Festival Commission, Unchain Me. Inspired by Dostoevsky’s novel The Possessed, in which a provincial town descends into chaos, the action takes place across a range of locations in and around the city. This thought-provoking multi-media performance is made possible with support from The Pebble Trust, whose annual sponsorship of the Brighton Festival Commission series will offer audiences innovative and unique ways of seeing and experiencing Brighton & Hove. Those who book will be told where to meet at a secret central Brighton location. Photo: Brighton Festival
4. Witness Stand: Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8 (until Sunday, May 29)
Australian artists Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey have commissioned a community of writers and sound artists with a connection to Brighton to design sound works that respond to five specific sites across the region that reverberate with ancient, recent, and future stories of the city. These unique immersive events take place at The Adur Estuary at Shoreham-by-Sea, Brighton West Pier, East Brighton, Brighton Marina and The Chattri. Photo: Brighton Festival