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The city is abuzz with excitement as it dons rainbow colours and prepares for a weekend of Pride celebrations.
Brighton & Hove Pride, the city’s biggest and brightest event celebrating the diversity, joy and unity of our LGBTQ+ communities, takes place this Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 August.
Celebrating Pride
The main events get underway on Saturday with the Pride Community Parade setting off from Hove Lawns at 11am, followed by the ‘We Are Fabuloso’ celebrations in Preston Park and the Pride Village Party (PVP) in St James’s Street.
The Fabuloso Pride Festival and the PVP celebrations continue on Sunday.
Brighton & Hove City Council’s LGBTQ+ Workers Forum will once again be joining the Pride Community Parade, creating a human rainbow to showcase the stunning spectrum of Pride.
Alongside celebrating the vital, vivid and profound contributions our local LGBTQ communities add to the city, their theme ‘We stand as one’ emphasizes that in the ongoing work for real equality, no one should be left behind.
They’re joined in the parade by the huge ‘Drum and Blaze’ LGBTQI+ Samba Band, to supply the energy and music as well as samba dancers and magnificent roller skaters to add to the vibrant festival atmosphere.
UK’s LGBTQ capital
Councillor Leslie Pumm, Cabinet Member for Communities, Equalities and Human Rights, said: “Happy Pride Brighton & Hove!
“As a cabinet member for Communities, Equalities and Human Rights, I am really proud to be a gay man representing the administration.
“I came out when I was 12 and ever since I had the most amazing experience within our community and always felt supported.
“The theme of this year’s Pride, ‘We love because they can’t’ is a poignant reminder that not everyone’s experience is quite so positive, and 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.
“That’s why it’s so important for us, a proud LGBTQ capital, to show up for Pride, to show up big for celebrating our LGBTQ communities and protest even bigger for rights of LGBTQ communities across the world.
“We’ve been working closely and continuously with Pride organisers, transport partners and emergency services to create a very safe and fun experience for you. We hope you enjoy Pride and create many lovely memories.”
What you need to know!
As the city’s biggest celebration and protest, we’re expecting a busy weekend with thousands of residents and visitors joining the festivities.
Bus services will also be affected over the weekend. Trains are running on Sunday and a queuing system will be in place at the station from 4am on Sunday morning.
We're working over the weekend to keep on top of litter and cleaning - please help by recycling and disposing of your rubbish responsibly.
We're putting more than 70 larger rubbish bins out around the city ahead of the event – particularlyin the centre of town andalong the seafront and Hove Lawns. Pride is also adding around 50 extra bins around the route. Please use them.
Following a busy weekend, it may take a few days to catch up with cleaning in the city centre – please bear with us.
Reporting hate crime and anti-social behaviour
Everyone in Brighton & Hove has a right to feel safe.
We are committed to LGBTQ+ equality and supporting communities harmed by hate crime.
We encourage anyone who has experienced anti-social behaviour or hate incidents, harassment or distress due to their identity, to report it.