An entertainment pioneer who became the first artistic director of the Brighton Festival has died at the age of 84.

Sir Ian Hunter also ran the Edinburgh Festival during its early years and founded other festivals at Bath, the City of London, Malvern and Windsor.

Well-known names he brought to Brighton during his 16 years as director from 1967 included Daniel Barenboim, Yehudi Menuhin, Jacqueline du Pr and Simon Rattle, all counted among his personal friends.

Brighton Festival founder Ronald Bates, a former mayor, said: "The whole foundation of the Brighton Festival would not have been possible without him.

"I am very proud that it has been such a success."

Sir Ian had a head start on other festival organisers because he also ran an agency for musicians called Harold Holt.

Born in 1919, he became a gifted musician himself and was educated at Fettes in Edinburgh. On leaving school, he started to train at Glyndebourne as a conductor. After serving in the Second World War, he returned to Sussex and became assistant at Glyndebourne to administrator Rudolph Bing.

Sir Ian soon left to run the newly-started festival at Edinburgh and it was such a success he thought other towns and cities should have one.

He was the natural choice to become artistic director at Brighton when it was decided to have a festival.

Although Sir Ian was imbued in musical tradition, he was not afraid to try out works by modern composers including Birthwhistle, Maxwell-Davis and Tippett.

He also brought much publicity and even notoriety to the festival by establishing a vigorous fringe and by stunts such as trying to paint the sea in different colours. It failed.

Even though the old Brighton Borough Council subsidised the festival to the tune of £150,000 a year, a large sum in those days, the artistic community and Sir Ian, who was known as Mr Festival, claimed it was not enough.

Eventually, in 1983, he grew weary of the financial battles and left.

It was the right moment to go as critics were claiming the festival was becoming both tired and elitist.

He was succeeded by Gavin Henderson, a young local musician and performer, who immediately brought new zest and panache to the role.

Sir Ian, who leaves four daughters, continued to run other festivals and to promote the careers of musicians well into the Nineties. He was knighted in 1983.