Brighton Pride Festival 2024: A Weekend full of Liberation, Love & Celebration

UK’s most popular Pride festival continues to be a hoot with leading girl group Girls Aloud, hitmaker Mika and everyone in between stealing the show.

Fulfilled with joy, the first weekend of August kickstarted with their annual Pride parade that included a series of charities, community groups and small businesses coming together in unity, followed by two days of Pride Village Party that allowed partygoers to let themselves free with no judgment. One that included Amy Spalding (a fan favourite from I Kissed A Girl), storming the streets of Brighton as onlookers seemed to be capturing an A-lister. And that wasn’t even in the depths of the night, as the crowd flocks the streets of Kemp Town from early afternoon to the last trains of Brighton.

Yet the true display came from the popular community fundraising event, FABULUSO, as thousands of attendees flocked to Preston Park for a two-day spectacle. Featuring a day of standout sets from Billy Porter, Sophie Ellis Bextor and DJ Paulette across the Saturday, Girls Aloud were the true icons of the night. But before reminiscing about ‘Sound of the Underground’ repeatedly, it’s worth mentioning that the park was immersed in a series of performances by diverse LGBTQ+ artists that brought the day together in unity.

Now for the girl group that everyone is talking about, Girls Aloud. Being the heart of every little teenager’s music, it was fitting for the hit group to close their tour in the heart of Brighton. And amongst the addictive pop tracks of ‘Biology’ and ‘On The Metro’, Girls Aloud bought all the show stoppers with ‘Watch Me Go’ and ‘The Loving Kind’ – tracks that haven’t been performed in years. Not only that, but the leading girls also took the night with stride as the crowd in all honesty went wild.

Besides Saturday taking charge, Sunday came around the corner and fans of the weekend were furthermore in for a treat. With Gabrielle and S Club easing through the afternoon with tracks such as ‘Dreams’ & ‘Reach’, MIKA was the perfect act for the backdrop of FABULOSO. With pop royalty, nostalgia came into true force with ‘Lollipop’, ‘Love Today’ and ‘We Are Golden’.

As the weekend ended and the sudden realisation of missing the last train back home, Brighton Pride came to an end as the beaming fireworks fluttered across the sky, and festival goers gazed over the perfect weekend.