Part of the Gay Brighton Guide — bars, events & things to do.
Saturday, August 7 – Sunday, August 8, 2027
Preston Park & Kemptown
Preston Park, Preston Rd, Brighton BN1 6SDThe circuit parties, afterhours and official events happening across Brighton & Hove Pride (dates TBC) in Brighton — dates, venues and tickets.
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Brighton & Hove Pride is the weekend the whole city turns rainbow. It runs on the first weekend of August, and the format barely changes from year to year: a community parade on Saturday morning that walks from the seafront at Hove Lawns up through the city to Preston Park, two days of ticketed concerts on the park, and a street party on Marine Parade in Kemptown, the city's gay neighbourhood, where the bars run flat out until late on both nights.
The organisers bill it as the UK's biggest Pride festival, and the parade alone draws more than 300,000 people onto the streets, by their count. It's also a fundraiser: Pride on the Park is the official charity event, and money from tickets goes back to local LGBTQ+ community groups through the organisers' grant funds.
The organisers haven't announced the 2027 dates yet. This guide follows the 2026 programme, and the matching weekend in 2027 would be Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 August (to be confirmed). We'll update this page when the dates and line-up are official.
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Here's how the weekend runs, based on the 2026 schedule. Times and venues have been stable for years, but check the official site before you book anything non-refundable.
For reference, the 2026 edition ran on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 August, with the campsite open from Friday 31 July to Monday 3 August. RAYE headlined Pride on the Park on Saturday and Diana Ross on Sunday, and the parade theme was "The Power of Love," marking 35 years since Pride returned to Brighton in 1991.
Pro Tip
Brighton fills up months ahead of Pride weekend, and hotel prices climb as it gets closer. Book your room as soon as you've decided to go, even before the 2027 line-up is out. Most of the action is in Kemptown, so stay there or near the seafront if you can.
Brighton's first Pride march was in 1973, organised by the Sussex Gay Liberation Front. It was small, and it was brave: only a few years earlier, sex between men had still been a crime. The marchers ended the day with a dance at the Royal Albion Hotel.
Pride didn't come back until 1991, when it returned as a protest against Section 28, the law banning the "promotion" of homosexuality. That first modern Pride was homemade but ambitious, a festival of events across town over the May bank holiday that finished with a "Pink Picnic" in Preston Park. The early political marches ran for four years against a hostile local press and little money from the council.
From the mid-1990s it turned into the party Pride the city knows now. It went back to Preston Park in 1996 and has stayed there ever since, and in 1997 it moved from the May bank holiday to early August, which was controversial at the time. The parade, park and street party format grew out of those years. Charging for entry to the park was introduced in the early 2010s, and the money now goes to local community groups: the organisers say Pride has raised more than £1.5 million for local charities and groups.
Brighton Pride is really three events plus a city-wide party, and it helps to know which is which before you go.
The parade is free to watch and it's the heart of the weekend. It leaves Hove Lawns on the seafront on Saturday morning and works its way through the city centre to Preston Park, where it feeds straight into Pride on the Park. The organisers guarantee that at least two thirds of the entries are charities, community groups and local LGBTQ+ businesses, and any business in the parade has to show it supports the community year round, not just in August. Expect the city's emergency services and NHS teams alongside campaign groups, dance troupes and floats.
Applications to walk in the parade open months in advance on the official site and close well before the day.
Pride on the Park is the ticketed festival on Preston Park, running across both Saturday and Sunday, and it's the official charity fundraiser for Brighton & Hove Pride. The main stage books international headliners (RAYE and Diana Ross in 2026; past years have included Kylie Minogue, Dua Lipa, Pet Shop Boys and Fatboy Slim), and the rest of the park has tents and stages for cabaret, DJs and community areas, including a family area and a community village. Saturday's festival closed at 10.30pm in 2026.
Tickets go on sale through the official site, and they sell well before the weekend, so watch for the 2027 announcement.
The Street Party moved to Marine Parade in 2025, the seafront road that runs along the bottom of Kemptown, and it ran across both days in 2026. It's ticketed and run with the neighbourhood's LGBTQ+ venues, with several stages, music zones, bars and food. In 2025 the line-up included Danny Beard, Sonia, Freemasons, Tayce and Booty Luv.
If you're staying on Marine Parade or the streets just above it, expect wristband checks and bag searches at the entry points over the weekend.
Pride on the Park has accessible ticket types, including a wheelchair viewing platform, a seated viewing area and a standing viewing area, each with a free ticket for a PA or carer if you qualify. There's a dedicated BSL zone, and British Sign Language interpreters work the main stage on both days. The official access page lists the documents they accept and how to book.
Kemptown is where Brighton's gay bars are, and over Pride weekend it barely sleeps. Most of the bars sit within a few minutes of each other along St James's Street, the streets running off it and the seafront at Marine Parade, so you can walk between all of them.
Brighton, England
Brighton, England
Brighton, England
Brighton, England
Brighton, England
Brighton, England
Brighton, England
Brighton, England
Brighton, England
Brighton, England
Pro Tip
Pride weekend crowds in Kemptown are huge, and queues for the bars build from the afternoon. Pick two or three places close together, get there early, and don't try to cross the city at 11pm.
Staying in Kemptown puts you a short walk from the Street Party, the bars and the seafront, and away from the trek back from Preston Park in a crowd. Hotels across the city book out for Pride, so plan early.
HotelBrighton, England
HotelBrighton, England
HotelBrighton, England
If you'd rather save money or keep the party going, the Pride Campsite at Waterhall runs from Friday to Monday, with a shuttle bus into town.
Brighton is about an hour from London by train, and the station is a short walk from the seafront. Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express all serve it, and the operator runs extra trains and carriages over Pride weekend. A few things to know, based on the 2026 arrangements:
Gatwick is the closest airport, about 20 minutes from Brighton by train. Heathrow is further, and most travellers go via London.
Local buses run all weekend but expect diversions and road closures. In 2026 a dedicated Pride bus, service 600, linked Preston Park, Old Steine and Kemptown on Saturday afternoon and evening, and shuttled campsite guests into town all weekend. Don't drive if you can avoid it: there's no parking at Preston Park on the day, parking is restricted on much of Madeira Drive, and the city centre is limited and expensive. If you're getting a taxi from the park on Saturday, there's a designated Pride pick-up on Stanford Avenue.
Pro Tip
Buy your return train ticket in advance along with your outward one, and check the last trains before you head out. Coastway lines run a limited late service, and the station queues on Saturday night can take an hour or more.
If you're making a long weekend of it, Brighton is an easy city to fill: the Palace Pier and the seafront, the Royal Pavilion, the Lanes for independent shops, and the beach itself, which is pebbles rather than sand. The city's gay saunas are in Kemptown and Hove if you want a quieter afternoon.
Brighton, England
Brighton, England
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The organisers haven't announced the 2027 dates yet. Brighton Pride is held on the first weekend of August, which would be Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 August 2027. The 2026 edition ran on 1 and 2 August.
The Community Parade is free to watch. Pride on the Park and the Pride Street Party are ticketed, and the money from Pride on the Park goes to local LGBTQ+ charities and community groups.
In 2026 the parade left Hove Lawns at 11am on the Saturday and finished at Preston Park. The organisers confirm the route and timings closer to the weekend.
It starts on the seafront at Hove Lawns, passes through the city centre and finishes at Preston Park, where Pride on the Park takes place.
The 2027 line-up hasn't been announced. In 2026 RAYE headlined Saturday and Diana Ross headlined Sunday at Pride on the Park.
On Marine Parade, the seafront road along the bottom of Kemptown. It moved there in 2025 and runs alongside the neighbourhood's gay bars.
Take the train from London to Brighton, which takes about an hour. Buy your tickets in advance (Oyster and contactless don't work for Brighton), and allow plenty of time for the trip home, as the station queues are long on Saturday night.
Kemptown is the best base: it's where the gay bars and the Street Party are, and it's walkable to the seafront and the station. Book early, as the city sells out.
Let people know you're going, see who else is attending, and share the event with friends.
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