Birmingham Pride 2027: Parade, Festival, Tickets & Where to Stay

Birmingham Pride at a Glance

Birmingham Pride is the spring bank holiday weekend when the city's Gay Village, the streets around Hurst Street, turns into a festival. It follows a simple pattern every year. A free community night on Friday kicks things off, Saturday brings what the organisers call one of the UK's largest Pride parades through the city centre, and two days of stages, cabaret and street food run around the Village bars over Saturday and Sunday.

2027 is a big one. Birmingham Pride held its first event in the Gay Village in May 1997, so the 2027 weekend is its 30th anniversary, and the organisers are building the whole year around it. Their own figures give a sense of the scale: more than 20,000 people at the festival across the weekend, and more than 75,000 watching the parade, with over 7,000 people taking part in it.

The organisers have announced the dates and put tickets on sale: Friday 28 to Sunday 30 May 2027. The line-up hasn't been published yet, so this guide uses the confirmed 2027 details where they exist and the 2026 weekend for everything else. We'll update it as the programme lands.

• Friday 28 May: the Big Free Community Event on the Main Stage, 6pm to 10pm
• Saturday 29 May: the Pride Parade from Victoria Square at 12 noon, then the festival in the Gay Village
• Sunday 30 May: the second festival day across the stages and the Village bars

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Birmingham Pride 2027: Dates and Key Facts

• Dates: Friday 28 to Sunday 30 May 2027, the spring bank holiday weekend (Monday 31 May is the bank holiday itself)
• Where: Birmingham's Gay Village, around Hurst Street, Bromsgrove Street and the surrounding streets, with the parade starting in Victoria Square in the city centre
• Anniversary: the 30th Birmingham Pride, three decades after the first one in May 1997
• Free: the Saturday parade and the Friday Big Free Community Event
• Ticketed: the Saturday and Sunday festival, with Saturday, Sunday, weekend and VIP tickets sold through Citizen Ticket
• Organiser: Birmingham Pride, a not-for-profit organisation
• Official site: birminghampride.com

What Happens Each Day

Friday: the Big Free Community Event

Pride weekend starts on Friday evening with the Big Free Community Event, on the Main Stage from 6pm to 10pm on Friday 28 May 2027. It's free to everyone, and the organisers describe it as the start of the 30th anniversary weekend.

The programme is built around Birmingham's own LGBTQ+ community: local artists, performers and drag acts, from emerging names to established ones, plus community voices and keynote speakers. There are community stalls and street food, which makes it a good chance to find the local groups and organisations behind the weekend.

Birmingham Pride lists its Candlelit Vigil alongside the Friday event. It's the moment the weekend pauses to remember the people the community has lost, those affected by HIV and AIDS, those who have faced violence and hatred, and LGBTQ+ people around the world who still live without basic freedoms. The full Friday programme will be announced in the coming months.

Saturday: the Parade and the festival

Saturday is the big day. The Birmingham Pride Parade takes place on Saturday 29 May 2027. Things get going at Victoria Square in the city centre from 11am, and the parade sets off at 12 noon, finishing in the Gay Village.

The organisers call it "a celebration, a protest and a powerful statement of LGBTQ+ visibility", and that's a fair description of the mood. Thousands of LGBTQ+ people, allies, charities, community groups and businesses march, with walking groups, cars and floats. Their accessibility guide says the route is about 1.5 miles and takes around 45 minutes with all the stops and starts. The 2027 route hasn't been published yet. In 2026 resurfacing work on New Street meant a revised route, and Hits Radio reported the parade finishing at Hippodrome Square on Hurst Street.

Watching the parade is free and open to anyone who shares the values of Pride. Once it reaches the Village, the ticketed festival takes over for the rest of the day.

Sunday: the second festival day

Sunday is the second full festival day, with the stages, market stalls, street food and Village bars all open again on a Sunday ticket or a weekend wristband. With the bank holiday on Monday, several Village bars stay open late on the Sunday, so check each venue's hours.

In 2026, Sunday's main-stage headliners included Nadine Coyle, Björn Again and Boney M featuring Maizie Williams, according to Hits Radio, while Saturday had Katy B, Sigala and the drag star Danny Beard. The 2027 line-up hasn't been announced yet.

The Story of Birmingham Pride

Birmingham Pride began in the heart of the Gay Village in May 1997. Over 30 years it has grown into what the organisers call one of the UK's most important LGBTQ+ events, and the parade into one of the UK's largest.

Those 30 years cover most of the big legal changes for LGBTQ+ people in Britain, from the repeal of Section 28 to civil partnerships, the Equality Act 2010 and same-sex marriage. The organisers frame the anniversary around that history and the work still to do. Their line for 2027 is "30 years of Pride. 30 years of progress. Still fighting for equality."

The festival is run on a not-for-profit basis. According to its own FAQ, it has given more than £250,000 to local LGBTQ+ community and support groups since 2014, and the Birmingham Pride Community Foundation takes grant applications from qualifying groups.

Like other UK Prides, Birmingham has been dealing with rising costs. In 2026 the festival cut its weekend ticket price to £46.87, down from £73.70 in 2025, and in April its director, Lawrence Barton, told BirminghamLive he would love the 30th anniversary to be a free festival, as Attitude reported. As things stand, 2027 is ticketed: the parade and the Friday event are free, and festival tickets went on sale at super early bird prices.

How It Works: Tickets, Wristbands and What's Free

What's free

• The Parade: free to watch on Saturday, from Victoria Square to the Gay Village
• The Big Free Community Event: free on Friday evening on the Main Stage
• Children 11 and under: free, but they still need a free ticket booked in advance, and every child has to be with a parent or guardian

What needs a ticket

A ticket, swapped for a wristband, gets you into everything inside the festival site over Saturday and Sunday. For 2027 that means the Main Stage, the Cabaret Marquee, the Dance Arena, the community market stalls, the street food and, in the ticket's own words, "your favourite LGBTQ+ bars and clubs", subject to each bar's licensing conditions and right to refuse entry. In 2026 the main stage was on the Smithfield site, next to the Village. The organisers haven't yet said where the 2027 stages will go.

These were the super early bird prices on Citizen Ticket in November 2026, before booking fees:

• Saturday or Sunday: £29.50 (£33.99 with the fee)
• Weekend: £51.50 (£58.63 with the fee)
• VIP Saturday or Sunday: £68 (£77.11 with the fee)
• VIP weekend: £115 (£129.75 with the fee)

VIP adds front-of-stage and Inner Circle access, priority bar service at the Main Stage and Cabaret Marquee, and a VIP food and drink area with a buffet and a glass of fizz. When you book VIP, add the free food and drink vouchers to your basket too, or the ticket won't go through. Every ticket includes a contribution to the Birmingham Pride community fund. Super early bird prices don't last, so expect them to rise as the weekend gets closer.

Low-income tickets

Birmingham Pride runs a low-income ticket scheme with 50% off the full price of a general admission ticket. It's only for residents of Birmingham and the West Midlands, it's first come, first served, and you apply online with evidence such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit. If your annual income is below £23,132 without benefits, you can contact the organisers to ask. Applications for 2027 close at 5pm on Friday 9 April 2027.

Wristband rules

You swap your ticket for a wristband either in advance or on the day. The organisers will publish the exchange details closer to the festival. Once it's on, keep it on: wristbands must stay intact, they can't be swapped or transferred, and torn or lost ones aren't replaced. You need it both to get in and to buy drinks at the bars inside the site.

What you can't bring

No alcohol, glass, food, large bags or backpacks, and no pets apart from assistance dogs. The organisers also ban weapons, legal highs, flares and fireworks, Chinese lanterns, large inflatables, bikes, scooters and skateboards, drones and flyers. Security may check aerosols and gels at the gate.

Accessibility

The organisers say the parade route is fully wheelchair accessible, with lowered kerbs at crossings, and the festival site in the Village is fully wheelchair accessible, with ramps and flat surfaces. There are accessible toilets along the parade route and inside the site, an access team on the day, quiet spaces and sensory-friendly areas. The parade is loud, so bring ear plugs or headphones if you need them. If you need a carer or personal assistant ticket, buy your own ticket first and then apply (applications haven't opened yet), and you can email access@birminghampride.com about any specific needs.

The Gay Village: Bars and Nightlife over Pride

Birmingham's Gay Village is compact: most of it sits on Hurst Street, Bromsgrove Street, Kent Street and Lower Essex Street, south of the city centre, so you can walk between almost every bar in a few minutes. Over Pride weekend the bars are part of the party, and the festival ticket covers entry to the Village's LGBTQ+ bars and clubs, subject to each venue's own licensing and door policy.

• Missing, on Bromsgrove Street, calls itself Birmingham's party bar and opens from midday every day, with DJs, drag and karaoke in the evenings.
• The Nightingale, on Kent Street, bills itself as Birmingham's oldest and largest LGBTQIA+ venue, with a stated capacity of 2,000. The Village Inn shares the same building.
• The Fox, on Lower Essex Street, says it has been running as a gay bar for over 25 years, with a pool room and a beer garden at the back.
• Equator and WashWorx sit a few doors apart on Hurst Street: Equator opens from 1pm most days, and WashWorx is the place for cocktails.
• Glamorous, at the city-centre end of Hurst Street, is the after-hours stop, open until 6am.
• Eden Bar, on Gooch Street, has drag and singers and opens late at weekends, and The Fountain Inn, on Wrentham Street, is a small gay pub. Both are a short walk from Hurst Street.

Missing Bar, Birmingham

Birmingham, England

Nightingale Club, Birmingham

Birmingham, England

The Village Inn, Birmingham

Birmingham, England

The Fox, Birmingham

Birmingham, England

Equator Bar, Birmingham

Birmingham, England

WashWorx, Birmingham

Birmingham, England

Glamorous, Birmingham

Birmingham, England

Eden Bar, Birmingham

Birmingham, England

The Fountain Inn, Birmingham

Birmingham, England

For the full guide to every bar, see Gay bars in Birmingham.

Where to Stay for Birmingham Pride

Pride falls on a bank holiday weekend, and the city-centre hotels around New Street and the Bullring book up early, so sort out your room as soon as you have your ticket. Anywhere in the city centre is within walking distance of both Victoria Square and the Village.

For a room in the Village itself, The Fountain Inn on Wrentham Street lets rooms alongside its small independent gay bar. Rooms are room only, with an en-suite wetroom, Wi-Fi and 24-hour private access, and it's about a ten-minute walk from New Street and Grand Central stations. There's no online booking, so call or message the pub to check availability.

Hotel

The Fountain Inn Rooms, Birmingham

Birmingham, England

The festival's own accommodation page points to the Radisson Blu Birmingham, which offers Birmingham Pride ticketholders 10% off food and drink over the weekend when they show their wristband.

Getting to Birmingham for Pride

By train

Birmingham New Street has direct trains from London Euston, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and beyond. The Village is about a ten-minute walk south of New Street and Grand Central, and Moor Street station is close by too. Trains are busy on a bank holiday weekend, so book ahead.

By coach

Birmingham Coach Station is in Digbeth, a short walk east of the Village, and it's often the cheapest way in from other UK cities.

By plane

From Birmingham Airport, take the free AirRail Link to Birmingham International station, where trains to New Street take around 10 to 15 minutes, then walk to the Village from the station.

By car

Parking in the city centre is limited and expensive over Pride, and roads around the parade route close on Saturday. If you drive, park outside the centre and take the train or tram in.

Birmingham Pride FAQ

When is Birmingham Pride 2027?

Friday 28 to Sunday 30 May 2027, over the spring bank holiday weekend. The organisers have announced the dates and put tickets on sale. It's the 30th anniversary of the first Birmingham Pride in May 1997.

Is Birmingham Pride free?

The parade and the Friday Big Free Community Event are free. The Saturday and Sunday festival in the Gay Village is ticketed. In November 2026 super early bird day tickets cost £29.50 before the booking fee, and children aged 11 and under go free with a free ticket.

What time does the Birmingham Pride parade start?

The parade sets off from Victoria Square at 12 noon on Saturday 29 May 2027, with things getting going there from 11am. It ends in the Gay Village.

Where does the Birmingham Pride parade go?

It starts at Victoria Square in the city centre and finishes in the Gay Village, covering about 1.5 miles in around 45 minutes. The 2027 route hasn't been published yet. In 2026 it finished at Hippodrome Square on Hurst Street.

Who is headlining Birmingham Pride 2027?

The 2027 line-up hasn't been announced yet. In 2026 the main stage had Katy B, Sigala and Danny Beard on the Saturday, and Nadine Coyle, Björn Again and Boney M featuring Maizie Williams on the Sunday.

Do I need a ticket to go to the Gay Village bars over Pride?

The festival ticket covers entry to the LGBTQ+ bars and clubs inside the festival site, subject to each venue's licensing and door policy, and you need the wristband to buy drinks at the bars inside the site.

Can I bring children to Birmingham Pride?

Yes. Under-18s must always be with an adult. Children aged 11 and under get in free but need a free ticket booked in advance, and you'll need ID to collect their wristbands.

Where should I stay for Birmingham Pride?

Anywhere in the city centre puts you within walking distance of the parade and the Village. The Fountain Inn on Wrentham Street has rooms above a gay bar in the Village itself. Book early, as it's a bank holiday weekend.