Looking back with Pride
That was the weekend Brighton & Hove welcomed back its fantastic Pride celebrations with love.
With crowds cheering all along the route of the Pride Community Parade and around 100,000 people travelling to the city by train, it was – as expected – very busy!
The queue system at Brighton station worked well and people were able to get away. We’d like to thank everyone queuing for their patience and good humour!
The big clean up
Our Cityclean team have been working hard alongside Pride teams cleaning up and emptying bins throughout the weekend, including overnight Saturday and Sunday.
It has been very busy and, despite all the extra recycling and rubbish bins we put out, there has been a lot of mess to clear.
Most areas have been cleaned - with 85 tonnes of rubbish and litter cleared over the weekend.
While Pride hold no events on the beach, they teamed up with Surfers Against Sewage to run the Big Pride Beach Clean on Sunday morning.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered for the beach clean. Our Cityclean team picked up 1.3 tonnes of litter, 700kg of recycling and 300kg of glass the volunteers collected.
We still have catching up to do on side streets and jet washing, and extra staff are continuing the clean-up this week.
It will take a few days to catch up – please bear with us.
If you see anywhere that needs attention, please let us know using our online request a clean-up form.
Pride paid for the clean-up operations in the footprint of their event sites, including the route after the parade, in Preston Park and the area of the Pride Village Party in Kemp Town. They also ran extra scarab cleaners along London Road over the weekend.
We’d like to thank all the businesses who helped clear waste left near their premises – keeping true to the spirit of Pride’s City Angels initiative.
Pride have worked hard to get Preston Park and the Pride Village Party area clean, open and back to full use as early as possible.
We remind everyone to dispose of their litter and recycling responsibly every time they’re out enjoying the city.
Fantastic to see Pride back!
Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, leader of the council, said: “It’s been a brilliant weekend and absolutely fantastic to see residents, visitors and businesses welcome back Pride with such warmth and enthusiasm. A smooth return after a two-year absence. Local businesses will have welcomed a bumper weekend too.
“It comes after many months of careful planning with all of the key organisations across the city.
“The clean-up operation has been huge. Many thanks to everyone from the council’s Cityclean team and Pride who worked all weekend cleaning up.
“I’d also like to thank the beach clean volunteers and the business who helped clear waste in the Pride Village Party area.
“The city council is continuing the clean-up this week and anticipate it will take a few days.
“I want to thank the paid staff from the city council, the emergency services, health, transport and many volunteers who helped the city celebrate a great weekend.
“Many thanks to everyone who helped with this year’s Pride and all those who took part - you all made it an amazing celebration.”
