My first Brighton Pride was in 2003. Then, the parade was largely comprised of local groups and LGBTQ+ organisations. Afterwards, you could just walk in (and out of) the park at will; maybe with a picnic, and your dogs and kids (if you had any), browse the community stalls, and simply exist in the majority in the park on a sunny, summer afternoon.

By 2011, the event had become so popular, and “Brighton Pride Inc.” had lost so much money, they introduced a nominal entrance fee. The following year, they began having bigger names than the usual camp favourites and drag queens, with Alexandra Burke being the first. The first major headliner I remember seeing was the Pet Shop Boys in 2017 and ever since then the names have gone stratospheric so much that only one name needs suffice for many of them: Britney, Kylie, Christina, Paloma, Mariah and then this year’s Raye and Diana.

Now, Brighton Pride is regarded as the largest pride event in the UK. Though, with an entrance fee in the region of £80, the 6-figure fees doled out to headliners, and the LGBTQ+ attendees once again being in the minority (last year, one woman was overheard asking ‘why there are so many gay people here?’), the now 2-day event has become more of a music festival than a community event. I guess that’s progress…

This year, we attended the parade on the Saturday that was markedly, and thankfully, devoid of any political representation or much corporate sponsorship other than a few supermarkets. It felt different. It felt that being abandoned by the big corporations had forced us to embrace once again who we are on our own terms.

Preferring to attend a local, free, Pride event on the Saturday, we instead went to the park on the Sunday. The atmosphere in the park immediately felt different. Instead of the large crowds and queues for the bar and toilets you’d get on a typical Saturday, there was space to breathe. It was busy, but so much more relaxed and enjoyable.

Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood took to the main stage later in the afternoon for unquestionably the highlight of the weekend. Wearing a handmade shirt in the colours of the trans flag, he was engaged and funny with a voice that takes you right back to your youth as he belted out his hits. His finale was ’The Power of Love’ which as a standalone song has always been at the pinnacle of songwriting (he said it was his favourite song), but now with the added association to ‘All of Us Strangers’ has taken on a whole new level of poignancy. On stage with him was the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus who provided a beautiful accompaniment to a new arrangement of this classic.

Next on was Paris Hilton covering other people’s hits in a Union Flag dress, followed by nineties boyband Five who made little reference to it being a Pride event.

Then, we had our headliner, Diana Ross who of course came on to ‘I’m Coming Out’. There’s not much to say about Ms Ross other than that she is a total legend and it felt a privilege to see her perform all those hits we’ve all known for our entire lives. This was music royalty right there.

Possibly a victim of its own success over the last decade, Brighton Pride undoubtedly provides visibility for our community even if it feels like it’s taken a wrong turn by pandering to those outside the queer community. The future may be in the smaller, local events. It might be better to give local, smaller vocalists a chance to shine and to not charge entrance fees that exclude those on lower incomes. There’s no one solution, but we need to keep trying to find it.