Where the Brighton Festival is concerned, big is beautiful.

Celebrating its 40th birthday, the festival includes ten world premieres, five UK premieres and performances by more than 700 artists. Several acts have been commissioned exclusively for the three-week showcase, now a firmly-established part of the national arts scene.

The festival kicks off on May 6 with the annual children's parade, this year taking the theme of world cuisine.

For the first time in festival history a song has been commissioned which will be performed on the beach by more than 4,000 children for the parade's finale.

Pupils at all Brighton schools have been learning the words, penned by West End lyricist Stephen Clark, since November.

The music for the catchy anthem, City By The Sea, has been composed by Brighton-based band The Levellers.

With just over ten weeks to go, the festival line-up was revealed by chief executive Nick Dodds at the Brighton Dome yesterday. Mr Dodds said: "I went to almost everything last year and I'm hoping to see as much as I can this year. Some things have been two or three years in the planning while others have come together at the last minute.

"We have a great responsibility to fulfill with this year being the 40th anniversary but we have some fantastic acts and I'm really looking forward to it. One of my favourite parts of the festival is the lunchtime concerts and I'm also excited about the world premiere of the Lost And Found Orchestra."

Mr Dodds said French company Vlo Th,tre's UK premiere of There Is A Rabbit In The Moon, a performance for adults and children, will "change your view of the dark or your view of theatre forever if you are four or over".

Literary events include an intimate afternoon tea with Julian Clary in the Grand Hotel and a behind-the-scenes view of filmmaking with Richard E Grant.

Barrister, bookshop owner, food historian and fat lady Clarissa Dickson Wright will talk about the "green revolution" and Melvyn Bragg will present the Twelve Books That Changed The World.

Following his recently-published biography, comic institution Eric Sykes will reflect on a career which has spanned half a century with Brighton broadcaster Simon Fanshawe.

The festival promises to take people on a tour of the city from the Royal Pavilion to the seafront, the streets, the pubs and basements. The festival extends to Charleston with a programme of events, including folk musician Patti Smith, writers Stephen Poliakoff, John Carey and Polly Toynbee.

Brighton-based Prodigal Theatre will perform a sitespecific reworking at the Grand Central pub of the Duchess Of Malfi in the world premiere of Ten Thousand Several Doors.

Actress Miranda Henderson said: "The audience is invited into the world of the performers. They go backstage, through streets and corridors and will come out completely changed. This is part of our ongoing investigation into the relationship between the audience and the performers. There are 12 cast members and a maximum of 25 people in the audience so it will be very intimate."

Festival newcomers comic theatre company Spymonkey may be one of the more controversial acts.

Two nearly-naked men, their modesty covered only by a small fig leaf, and a completely naked woman, cavort around the stage as part of their latest production, Cooped.

Performer Petra Massey said: "We're not naked for the whole thing and when we are it's not gratuitous. It's about music, song and dance and lots and lots of laughter. To us the audience is our fifth cast member and we want them to enjoy themselves."

Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, the Brighton-based creators of Stomp, present the Lost And Found Orchestra, their first new production in 15 years, where performers transform ordinary household objects into musical instruments.

The line-up also includes the UK premiere of La Cit Radieuse, a collaboration between Ballet National de Marseilles and French architect Dominique Perrault.

Cult authors Chuck Palahniuk, (Fight Club) and Irvine Welsh, (Trainspotting) have teamed up with new Brighton-based band Longrange, formed of Phil Hartnoll, of Orbital fame, and local musician Nick Smith, to create Stories In Motion, described as a "unique multi-layered narrative in words, music and images".

Phil Hartnoll said: "This a hugely exciting creative opportunity for us and we are really flattered to be working with two giants of the literary world who we've admired and been influenced by in the past.

"Between taking a break from finishing our new album and drawing some new influences from this experience to throw into the mix, what really appeals to me about this project is the spontaneity and unpredictability.

Mixing sound and visuals has always been a prominent part of my work. Adding spoken word will add another dimension."

The festival ends with a two-day grand finale at Brighton Marina called The Big Splash and a giant pyrotechnics display.

Parallel to the main festival, the Brighton Festival Fringe will also present a programme of events. More details will be revealed at the end of March.

Tickets for the main festival are available from March 3 by calling the box office on 01273 709709. For a full line-up of events, visit www.brightonfestival.org.