With only three days to go until Brighton Festival 2002, Nick Dodds is feeling a little nervous.

From May 4 to 26 his months of planning, hard work and determination will be on display for all to judge.

But the 45-year-old is sure his decision to move the three-week event in new directions will mark the beginning of a new era.

He said: "It is a good festival at the moment but there is a fantastic opportunity to take it up a notch or two so it becomes a world-class event of real significance.

"With the Dome opening up we have the venues. All we need to do now is invest more money in the programme.

"I am not that interested in being the biggest but I do want to be the best.

"We must not try to be like other festivals too much because we have to be different.

"Brighton is unique as a place. There is a very open, young, cutting-edge feel here and these are the strengths we need to play on.

"With this year's programme I am hoping to produce a better festival. Rather than doing everything and anything, I want to focus on doing things in more depth.

"I want to make sure we improve the quality and bring some major companies to Brighton.

"This year we have done quite well. We are able to present the first visit to the UK of Hubbard Street Dance.

"There is also Rome and Jewels, which tells the story of Romeo and Juliet using hip-hop.

"The idea is to develop more contemporary acts for young people because these are the audiences of the future. There is a very broad range of people who like going to the festival and it is important we always regenerate.

"In the future I want to double the budget to put on better shows. If I can achieve that within the next three years, I will be happy."

With an impressive CV, Nick is more than qualified to be in charge of Brighton's biggest cultural event.

Having worked for 11 years as administrative director for the Edinburgh International Festival, he knows all about working with the best.

Before that he ran a lighting company for TV companies and bands. His customers included Top Of The Pops and Iron Maiden.

Nick, who lives in Brighton with his wife and three daughters, said: "I was very pleased to come to Brighton. It is difficult to go anywhere, in terms of my job, after Edinburgh. Brighton was the only place that interested me.

"It has been very exciting, what with the opening of the Dome and planning the festival. All people in charge of festivals want to put their own stamp on them so I have been keen to think of a change of direction."

That change has included producing a programme of events for children.

Nick explained: "The great thing about Brighton is it is unique with its street theatre and street arts. With this in mind, we have come up with the four big weekends.

"The first is the Children's Parade and Luminarium. This has been going for quite some time and is great fun.

"Then there is Streets of Brighton on the second weekend. This year we also have A Little More Light to go with it, who are very good and very visual.

"The third weekend is a circus festival with the Moscow State Circus and Circus Baobab. There will be workshops outside so people can have a go.

"Weekend four is the carnival Samba encounter, which is just the sort of thing Brighton is good at. People dress up and parade around the city.

"The great thing about the festival is there are so many things free for people, which means it is accessible.

"As a resident, you get all these fantastic events on your door- step plus the economic benefits of all the visitors.

"Free events are a good way of introducing people to arts who have not had any contact before."

Nick also believes the open and fringe side of the festival is very important.

He said: "These are the events and shows that are not on the main programme. Anyone can put on their own show and play a part.

"It is really important for Brighton because people then think it is their festival.

"The open festival is an area I would like to develop and push forward.

"At the moment our job there is to help people put on their own shows but I hope in the long term we will be able to help them more.

"We also want to make it clearer for the public. I don't think many people really understand the different elements of the main, fringe and open programmes."

So is everything ready?

He replied: "It takes us 49 weeks to plan for three weeks and everything has to be planned to the finest degree.

"There will be more than 100 events just in the main section and looking after them is a big task.

"I am nervous and scared to death but I have done a lot of festivals. This will be my 13th but there is always a bit of adrenalin running.

"I will go to about 60 or 70 shows in three weeks - what a fantastic job."