The managing director of Brighton Pride has said this year’s event was “one of my favourites”, despite facing challenges from a rail strike and stormy conditions.
Thousands of people flocked to Brighton for the return of the city’s annual Pride celebrations in August.
However, Paul Kemp, director of Brighton Pride, admitted that the number of attendees for the annual park event and village party dropped by more than 25,000 due to an overtime ban by train drivers and stormy weather.
Mr Kemp said that Brighton Pride is “working hard” to commit to its obligations and fundraising.
He said: “Since we formed Brighton Pride CIC, over £1.3 million has been raised and in most years we have gone over and above the original ring-fenced £1 per ticket.
“In fact, we’ve more than doubled our commitment and added an extra £678,000 on top of the agreed obligation agreed with James Ledward and the Rainbow Fund back in 2013.
“This year has been really affected by the trains not running and the lower turnout but I’m working hard to personally commit to fundraising and make sure that our obligations are fulfilled.
“We are committed to donating £160,000 from Pride 2023 for local charities, community groups and good causes.”
Mr Kemp also said, like many other large-scale events, Pride has seen an increase in costs.
He said: “This has been especially challenging for the event and hospitality industries.
“Some of our infrastructure costs have gone up by 30 per cent and fuel and delivery costs have almost doubled. Regardless of this year’s lower attendance figures, we still need to pay these costs.”
Mr Kemp said that he is hoping to work with the events office at the city council to see how Pride can work collaboratively with other events by “possibly sharing infrastructure costs and raising extra revenue to safeguard Brighton Pride from exposure”.
“Pride is such an important event for our city and I’m excited and confident in delivering a successful and sustainable plan that takes us forward,” he said.
'The smiles really lifted my spirits'
Despite the challenges, Mr Kemp said this year’s event was “actually one of my favourites”.
He said: “In a year when it felt like everything was against us, seeing our city come together, the smiles and amazing human spirit in adversity really lifted my spirits.
“It was a really challenging year, but the support of our community and partner agencies helped our small dedicated core team deliver an amazing weekend.”
Among those headlining at the festival in Preston Park this year included Black Eyed Peas, Zara Larsson and Melanie C. Another LGBTQ+ icon Mr Kemp had previously hoped to have at Pride was George Michael.
Mr Kemp was trying to arrange it before Michael died in 2016.
“George was such an amazing talent - he had his personal struggles, but more than anything was a beautiful soul and a good man,” he said.
LGBTQ+ community 'cannot be complacent'
This year’s Pride marked 50 years since the first march by the Sussex Gay Liberation Front in 1973, with veterans of the event at the front of the parade in August.
Mr Kemp said that, while significant progress had been made to further the cause of LGBTQ+ equality, the community “cannot be complacent”.
“Some of the political rhetoric that is currently targeting LGBTQ+ communities and particularly our trans siblings is truly abhorrent and needs to be called out,” he said.
“There is a real sense within our community that LGBTQ+ rights are being rolled back, so bringing everyone together at Pride to campaign as well as celebrate is still very relevant.”
One common complaint about Pride celebrations in Brighton and elsewhere is that big corporations appear to back the festivities but without longer-term support for the LGBTQ+ community.
It is a view that Mr Kemp shares. He said: “Some companies do seem to take advantage of the opportunity to benefit commercially from Pride, and not just locally but nationally too.”
However, he also said that he feels Brighton Pride’s annual parade is “well balanced”, with two-thirds of the participants being community groups.
He also rejected the suggestion that Brighton Pride’s festival in Preston Park is a “main stage pop concert”, with over 150 LGBTQ+ performers performing across different stages and speakers raising awareness of the “current anti-LGBTQ+ narrative” to festivalgoers.
“Whilst some people may not like the international artists, this actually presents the opportunity to highlight LGBTQ+ causes to a global audience,” he said.
“We are constantly looking at how we can highlight LGBTQ+ campaigns across all our event sites, including the village party, possibly with screens so we can create an opportunity to raise awareness of global and national LGBTQ+ campaigns.”
'Brighton's Pride punches above our weight'
Mr Kemp moved to Brighton aged 17 and recalled how he ran club nights at the Zap and Wild Fruit - the latter of which was Pride’s biggest fundraiser partner and hosted the main dance tent, starting his community fundraising journey.
He became managing director of Pride in 2013 after the previous management had collapsed.
“The future of Pride was in doubt and fundraising for LGBTQ+ community groups hadn’t been delivered,” Mr Kemp said.
“I gave up my club promotion business to focus solely on Pride. In those days, most people purchased tickets at the last minute, so it was extremely challenging to keep up with the delivery costs and I had to shake hands with the production manager and personally underwrite Pride or it wouldn’t have happened.”
Some ten years on, Mr Kemp said that the city’s Pride "punches above our weight".
He said: “Now, with the success of the Seagulls, we are truly known on the global stage.
“Brighton and Hove is a special place with its own unique vibe. We are a welcoming city and Pride celebrates diversity.
“Of course I am biased, but we have lots of feedback from international visitors who just love our Pride and the city and now come back every year.”
Tickets for next year’s Brighton Pride from August 2 to 5 are already on sale from £29.50 from the event’s website.
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