More than 200,000 Place To Be spring brochures hit the streets of Brighton and Hove today.

The colourful leaflets list events which celebrate

the new millennium

and support the town's

bid for city status. The campaign is being chaired by Simon Fanshawe.

The Place To Be programmes will be distributed throughout the town and will be available from all council buildings, including tourist information centres.

More than 30 local businesses have given their support to the programme of events, which cover art, sport, education and community projects and have pledged thousands to fund the ventures.

Businesses, including Boots, Burger King, Donatello, Hanningtons, Body Shop, Waitrose, Good Bean and Brighton and Hove Buses, have also agreed to publicise the events and will distribute brochures to their customers.

The leaflets, which were designed by Ampasand, printed by Acumen and sponsored by Brighton Marina, list Place To Be events from February until April.

The programme is being run by The Place To Be executive, which is leading Brighton and Hove's bid to become a city.

The spring programme was kicked off at Komedia with the launch of the Theatre of the Imagination 2000 festival on January 31.

The first Place To Be event of February is the 100 Faces Exhibition, at Churchill Square from February 10 until 27.

Other events include a

Sussex Beer and Cider Festival at Hove Town Hall on February 17 and a concert by Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra and the Brighton Festival Chorus at All Saints Church, Hove on February 18.

Paul Hudson, The Place To Be sponsorship director, said: "The Place To Be Campaign is all about celebrating Brighton and Hove in the year 2000."

Place To Be programmes are available from all Argus offices, with dates listed in Ahead, the Argus's weekly entertainment guide.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.