Pride In Brighton & Hove

It’s amaaaaazing!!!

Brighton Pride is always a great weekend and mainly always the first weekend in August, Its a celebration of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and people of Brighton and the rest of the country who wish to visit this great weekend.
The whole weekend is packed of entertainment in bars and restaurants around the city, most of all the businesses in the city take part in this fun weekend.
The saturday is the main day with the parade starting at 11am from the seafront which makes its way through Brighton towards Preston Park.
The streets are full of spectators watching the parade, there are also some great pubs along the parade route, we watched it from the North Laine bar and the atmosphere was electric.
Once the parade has finished everyone heads towards Preston Park where all the entertainment is. Its a huge park with so much to see and do, with a Dance Tent, Cabaret Tent, Main Stage with huge acts, this year there was Sam Bailey, Collabro, Katy B to name a few, there are also a few other stages and tents around and many stalls and fairground rides, it really is a great day and if you book tickets in advance they are usually around £9 each.
After the park has finished St James Street in Brighton becomes a Street party, we did give it a miss this year as it was really busy and we was pretty whacked out from the park.
On the sunday theres a huge street party again on St James Street with many bars opening out into the street, with many drag acts and Cabaret acts performing. Its a great atmosphere.
One of my main tips though is to book as soon as they announce the dates for Brighton Pride, usually a year in advance so that youre not paying over the odds for a hotel as most places get booked up really quickly and they know how to charge!
Buts its a super fun weekend!

Overall I love Brighton Gay Pride. The parade is stricly an amateur affair and agree that the floats are hardly Sydney Mardi Gras or the Rio Carnival but at least they make an effort. The parade is a chance for local LGBGT groups to get themselves noticed. One this I do have a beef about though is the presence of the Police and Fire Service who have an official policy of tollerance and openess but personally I think that’s because they have to to be PC more than a desire to.
The party in park can be chaotic and i’m sure many stay away because of the aparent anti-​social behaviour but it’s great fund and there’s something for everyone. I understand that this year (2011) they are going to charge an admission to the park event which should help keep the undesirables down in numbers although i expect they’ll still come along and maybe migrate to the outer edges of the park, St James Street or the beach.
I wish there was less politics involved with the organisation of the event and more co-​operation between the different groups, after all most of us gay residents are not members of these groups and therefore the minority chooses to speak for the silent majority.
I hope that Brighton Pride continues for many more years to come.

Oh boy is this town proud. A big date in the party calendar Pride is hilarious fun. Everyone gets into the spirit of things as the parade stomps through the streets in all its glory. Colourful and scantily clad men and women shake and wiggle themselves along with the procession, while floats adorned with various affiliations lead the way. They’re all heading up to Preston Park where the party really gets going. The park is full of people and there’s a circus sized tent containing more camp disco and cross dressing comperes that you can shake a stick at. There’s a great atmosphere but be warned, there are more than a few cases of extreme debauchery and hedonism scattered around the park.

Brighton Pride has become a victim of it’s own success. It used to be a space for queer people to get together and celebrate our diversity and sexuality in a self-​affirming sort of way. It was also a message to those in the wider community that we exist and a platform from which to challenge discrimination. And boy did we party.
Now, it’s become a «family event» — loads of straight people, crowds of straight drunk teenagers who don’t appear t, who even know anyone gay or lesbian.
Whilst the support of others is welcome, I don’t like the fact that it’s become so mainstream and diluted. There is no political element at all that I’m aware of. Whilst gay people are still being beaten to death in this country, attacked on a regular basis and whilst homophobic bullying is on the increase in the playground, I switch off from this ultra camp drinking fest. This is not about the queer agenda anymore — it’s a commercial vehicle for local non-​queer businesses to cash in.
I’m not sure who this event is intended for anymore.

The Pride Festival is one of the highlights of the Brighton year.
Starting with a colourful parade through the streets, with floats through the streets from a wide variety of organisations, with music and dancing and wonderful costumes. People line the streets to watch, often getting to the parade route early in the morning to pick their spot.
Then, it’s on to Preston Park, with the famous Wild Fruit Tent along with a number of smaller tents pumping out music all day, lots of stalls and other attractions, and a huge fun fair. After that, if you still have the energy, a big street party takes place on St James Street.
Sadly there are rumours that the festival will have to be massively cut down next year for financial reasons — I hope not, as it would be a shame to lose such a unique event.

Pride put on all sorts of events and festivals during the years, but by far the most anticipated and visited event is the summer carnival parade, which takes place on the first weekend of August every year…

As in many cities around the world, the Pride carnival is an annual event in Brighton, set up to celebrate the city’s vibrant LGBT community. But perhaps unlike gay pride events in other cities, ‘Pride by the Seaside’ is fundamental to Brighton’s cultural identity– it is a long-​established, highly esteemed and widely cherished event, enjoyed by all sorts of Brightonites. Above all, it is a ridiculously fun and frivolous event! The parade starts at Madeira Drive and winds its way through the city centre, eventually reaching Preston Park. The parade includes all sorts of amazing floats and weird and wonderful costumes– it’s a real spectacle and that’s the whole point– it’s a great opportunity to be colourful, imaginative and outrageous. It’s also a rare opportunity to celebrate sexuality identity, in all its forms, there’s no need to be shy here– you can really flaunt your interests and preferences on your sleeve!
Preston Park is set up carnival-​style, with cabaret, raunchy street performers and stalls and shops where you can buy all manner of things, from pink cowboy hats to giant dildos! Brighton Pride is a really fun way to experience Brighton’s wild side– (possibly not for the faint of heart!).

Although Pride festivals are a nationwide series of events, if you’re going to go to one you must get yourself here. For those you haven’t been before, Pride is a charity that works against discrimination of those in the LGBT community. Although other UK cities have huge gay communities — say Manchester and London — you can’t beat Brighton’s. Due to the small size of Brighton, its thriving gay community is an essential part. And similarly, unlike London, during Brighton Pride any Brightonian can’t but get involved.
The main event is the summer carnival, which features a wacky and colourful parade from Marine Parade and through central Brighton. Following this, the parties take over town. There’s music and thousands of party-​goers spread from Preston Park to the seafront. The hub of it all is Kemp Town though, where a street party takes place on St James Street. It’s always absolutely rammed, but definitely the place to be to party into the early hours. Check out the website for more information as local organisers are always looking for fundraising and help. And if you haven’t been to Pride yet, get it on your to do list — it’s definitely Brighton’s best party.

Brighton Pride has now established itself as the UK’s biggest free Pride event. (That’s ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride’, for short). Around 150,000 come along every year for the main parade and party, which makes a considerable impact in this city of 300,000 residents.
The festivities actually continue through the year with a Winter Pride event, and various individual happenings during the last week of July and the first week of August, including parties and fundraisers at individual clubs and bars, and even a Pride Dog Show — a sort of camp version of Crufts!
But the main event is a parade through the streets of Brighton followed by a free festival in Preston Park, just north of the City Centre. The theme for this year’s parade was ‘Pride around the World’, which allowed imaginations to run riot with all sorts of interesting (not to say, oddball) internationally-​inspired outfits (and often pretty skimpy, at that).
The Festival includes a number of club and party tents, a large ‘market’ area with some 50 stalls covering everything from stands selling leather ‘acoutrements’ to social societies and health groups. A number of statutory bodies (such as the City Council, Police, Ambulance and Health service) are also there, partly demonstrating their support, partly raising awareness of their services and partly using it as a recruitment event.
There are also stalls selling (fairly pricey) food and a fairground, offering scary rides with the added bonus of tens of thouands of spectators to scream for.
But most people just treat it as a huge social event, to meet friends and people-​watch — there being plenty of interesting attire to admire, from the camply outrageous to the frankly weird (and lots of nicely and boringly ordinary folk, too, including plenty of families and friends as well as people from the LBGT community).
It’s now the UK’s largest free Pride event, with the London and Manchester events either being smaller or requiring paid entry. (Though attendees are asked to give a donation to support the event, a proportion of which goes to charity). A nice touch is that dozens of businesses in Brighton decorate their buildings with rainbow-​coloured Freedom Flags for the event.
This year’s (2008) event was slightly dampened by the best efforts of Blighty’s weather, with a fine drizzle persisting for most the day, but that didn’t stop some 150,000 people joining in the festivities. There are always a few downers: there are never enough loos, so you have to queue; the market area is always slightly haphazardly organised (finding anyone here is a nightmare!) and far too many people regard the ground itself as a litter bin. And yes, some of it is unbearably tacky.
But, that aside, it’s still an amazing event, and something worth celebrating.

This event is about as stylish as Eurovision! The march is naff and lacks culture and self respect. This event belongs in the 1970’s. To interupt an whole city for gay issues today seems bizzare. And to do it in such an uncouth way is not the way to build respect.
I saw females and males peeing openly in Preston Park! Is this such behaviour that will get the gay community respect?
Gay people in real life don’t wander around blowing a whistle or wearing idiotic clothes. So why is this event saturated in this behaviour?
The one good thing is the stalls. The area with political and health issue stalls was the best. It educated individuals on what is out in society.
The music is the worst of what anyone could possibly offer. There was no stylish cultured music just a rubbish beat.
I think this is my last Pride. I want an educated cultured event that doesn’t involve a debase agenda.