The last week has really shown the true and vibrant colours of Brighton & Hove as a city in solidarity with our communities.
Councillor Leslie Pumm, Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities and Human Rights, said: “This week residents and visitors have stood together and shouted loudly that Brighton & Hove is a place where everyone is welcome.
“As a gay man I was as proud as ever to represent the administration in the Pride parade to celebrate and protest for the rights of our LGBTQ+ communities last weekend.
“The theme of this year’s Pride, ‘We love because they can’t’, is a timely reminder that far too many people are still forced to live in shame and fear of violence or prosecution because of who they are, or who they love.
“Pride is also an incredible example of citywide cooperation to ensure events run smoothly, the city is clean and people can get around, and to make sure everyone is safe and having a great experience.
“Council teams work closely with Pride and emergency services, as well as transport, health and community partners to prepare for the events, put plans in place for all eventualities and keep a watchful eye over what’s going on throughout the weekend and move people around and in and out of the city safely.
“The city really does stand up and come together when it needs to.”
Brighton & Hove Pride is the city’s biggest and busiest weekend of the year.
From the community parade, to the Fabuloso events in the Park, dancing at the Village Party or spending time with old and new friends, it was a fantastic way to celebrate the diversity, joy and unity of our LGBTQ+ communities.
Extra staff from Cityclean worked day and night alongside Pride’s teams to put out extra bins, empty them, pick up litter and sweep the streets.
The clean-up continued at the start of the week as the team swept, cleaned and jet-washed the streets to make sure it was looking good and was clear to get around.
The council’s Tidy Up team organised a successful beach clean on Sunday morning which saw around 200 people turn up to help clear litter from the beach and support our team to keep the city clean.
Pride organise the clean-up 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 Kemptown. They worked hard to get these areas clean, open and back to full use as early as possible.
Councillor Tim Rowkins, Cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said: “Pride is always one of the highlights of the summer and such a powerful and visual celebration of love, unity and community.
“One thing which does often go unseen is the huge behind-the-scenes effort to help make sure not only that the event is a success, but also to keep the city looking its best during the Pride celebrations and immediately afterwards.
“Each year, we learn from the last and the clean-up operation was a big success. We have had lots of really positive feedback from businesses and residents, and I would like to thank our colleagues in Cityclean for the Herculean effort, which included putting out and emptying extra bins, picking up litter and sweeping the streets.
“I’d also like to thank the team from Pride who did such a good job cleaning up the event sites. This all has a huge impact on people’s experience of the city and the amount of organisation and hard work required should not be underestimated.
“Thank you to everyone involved, and to all the residents and visitors who responded so positively to our call beforehand for us all to do our bit in keeping our city free of litter.”
