Hundreds of the hottest up-and-coming musical acts will be plugging in and tuning up in Brighton from today (May 10).

The Great Escape Festival returns to the city for its seventh year with more than 300 bands playing in 30 venues across the city over the next three days.

The event, known as Glastonbury on sea, will see 15,000 music lovers flock to the city for one of the key new music festivals in the country.

This year’s event will be headlined by Maximo Park and The Temper Trap.

In previous years the festival has helped to launch the careers of top-line acts including Bat For Lashes, Paulo Nutini, Adele, Mumford & Sons and Ed Sheeran.

Jubilee Square will be the centre of the activity with the festival hub meeting festival goers information needs while scores of impromptu musical performances are expected to spring up along Brighton’s streets.

The Great Escape Convention will also be held at The Brighton Dome featuring talks from artists, label bosses, festival organisers and radio heads daily between 10am and 5pm and attracting delegates from more than 3,000 delegates from across the globe.

In addition, the Alternative Escape has a wealth of talent on show at more than 20 additional venues with free entry for delegates and wristband ticket holders.

The festival arrives in the city at the peak of its cultural calendar with the Brighton Festival now in full swing.

The festival will be hosting 25 events over the next two days with new events opening celebrating architect Sir Basil Spence’s work at the University of Sussex and the first ever visit to the UK by acclaimed Belgian theatre group Berlin at the Old Municipal Market in Circus Street.

For more details visit www.escapegreat.com or www.brightonfestival.org.