This, the first week of the Brighton Festival, coincides with Deaf Awareness Week.

Not that you would know it: Out of all the hundreds of shows in the festival and the fringes, only two (at one night each) have sign-language interpretation for deaf people, effectively excluding them from theatre, comedy, readings, talks and tours. And I thought the Brighton Festival was supposed to be for everyone?

Brighton and Hove has a significant deaf population, with an important deaf club and two deaf schools. Now the Government has officially recognised British Sign Language, isn't it about time Brighton Festival did the same?

-Abigail Dombey, Brighton