Glyndebourne, since 1934, has been a quintessential part of the English season, with its distinctive mixture of top-class opera and extended al fresco repasts between acts. With six operas each year, from Mozart to modern, there's something for everyone.
Screamers is Brighton's monthly gay comedy night, often featuring Tina C, the country & western drag star who introduces a star-studded bill.
Brighton Fashion Week brings cutting-edge local designers, press and fashionistas to Hilton Brighton Metropole and Brighton Corn Exchange for catwalk shows and a free fashion emporium. The annual event celebrates the diversity of Brighton fashion.
The Friends Life T20 begins with a group format in June, before quarter finals in July and Finals Day at Southampton's Rose Bowl in August. Sussex Sharks play their home games at Hove and Arundel.
On the eve of Corpus Christi each year a magnificent 90-foot carpet of flowers is placed down the central aisle of Arundel Cathedral. The flowers signal the start of this celebration, and are followed by a procession of the Blessed Sacrament.
The world's top tennis players gather in East Sussex for the traditional Wimbledon curtain-raiser. The AEGON International in Eastbourne is one of the top tennis events in England, attracting professionals eager to get some vital practice on grass.
Over 700 naked, body-painted and scantily-clad cyclists turn out for the annual World Naked Bike Ride in Brighton, protesting against climate change and the tyranny of the automobile. Motorists stuck in traffic jams may get more than they bargained for...
For two weekends in June and July, 70 beautiful private gardens and 16 trails are open to the public, for Brighton's Garden Gadabout scheme. The event raises money for The Sussex Beacon, a clinical care centre for HIV sufferers.
The Hop Farm Festival brings the best British and international bands to perform at the Hop Farm in Paddock Wood, Kent. Performances are spread across three stages while further attractions include funfair rides and celebrity five-a-side football.
Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag, as the wartime song goes, and get down to The Hop Farm's War and Peace Show. Military vehicles, battle re-enactments and even a fashion show make it a feast of military nostalgia.
Henry VIII and novelist Vita Sackville-West have both been residents of the National Trust house, Knole. Surrounded by a 1000-acre deer park, its early 17th-century state rooms contain an important collection of tapestries, and paintings by Van Dyck and Gainsborough.
Scientist and botanist John Rodgers, a friend and contemporary of Charles Darwin, started planting the south-facing Riverhill Gardens in 1842. Spring and early summer sees an explosion of colour from rhododendrons and azaleas within the three-acre Wood Garden.
Every year, venues across Brighton play host to the annual arts festival and its accompanying fringe. The fringe festival continues to expand, taking in everything from cabaret to comedy, classical concerts and club nights, theatre and exhibitions.
Every May, Brighton welcomes opera, comedy, readings, screenings and theatre to its myriad performance venues for the three-week-long Brighton Festival. This year's guest director is Aung San Suu Kyi, whose motto for the event is 'use your liberty to promote ours'.
Where there's a festival there's a fringe. Brighton Comedy Fringe runs alongside the Brighton Comedy Festival but is perhaps even more outlandish. In the intimate Upstairs at Three and Ten see Edinburgh highlights, checked out by the organisers. It'll be a gas!
Delve into Ashford's history at the Ashford Borough Museum, which houses local archaeological and geological artefacts. There's also a fascinating range of black-and-white photography featuring old Ashford, and a special exhibition entitled Ashford at War.
Imagine Henry VIII warming his hands at the octagonal hearth when he came to stay in the 13th-century Penshurst Place and Gardens. Kids love the ancient suits of armour in the Baron's Hall. Visit in June to admire the Rose Garden.
The Volk's Railway can carry up to 40 passengers for about a mile along Brighton beach and is a lovely way to get to the Marina from the centre of town.
Preston Manor - a perfectly preserved Edwardian manor house open to the public - has over 20 rooms to explore across four floors. It feels as if the family have just popped out and you are snooping around their home.