PRIDE ON THE PARK 2026 - BRIGHTON, UK

Pride on the Park 2026 Brighton, UK - 01/08/2026-02/08/2026
words and photos by Sky Aldridge

Brighton Pride is one of the most prominent and celebrated events in the LGBTQ+ community, uniting thousands of people together from all over the world to celebrate identity, self-expression and visibility. Throughout the seaside city, there’s an vibrant atmosphere with parades, parties and performances being held around every corner.

Held at Preston Park, Pride on the Park is a well-known annual music festival with performances from well-known artists, amazing food and entertainment. This provides an important space to reflect on current world affairs and to celebrate how far the movement has come and the progress that has been made and what still needs to be done.

This year’s festival took place across the 1st and 2nd of August, and featured performances from the most iconic artists such as RAYE, Jessie J, RuPaul, Diana Ross and many more. Brighton Pride celebrated 35 years of Pride on the Park with this event, continuing its importance among the LGBTQ+ community as whole.

RuPaul delivered an incredible DJ set, with fans throughout the space losing their minds at the opportunity of seeing such an iconic act. Before the set, there was a speech delivered about the current state of oppression in the LGBTQ+ space, highlighting the effects of recent politics such as the emergence in popularity in the Reform political party. The set continued with great visuals on display with RuPaul occasionally walking the catwalk to get a closer look at the audience.

G Flip brought some wild energy to the stage, with her full band from Australia, this act felt raw and powerful with the band walking down the catwalk ripping guitar solos and truly bringing that rock and roll energy to the stage. Given her previous experience as a drummer, at one point in her set, G Flip played the drums while also singing the vocals to one of her tracks, which is always incredibly impressive to witness.

Self Esteem was up next and took things in a completely different direction, with laid back, mellow tracks resonating throughout the festival, the performance was more of a visual spectacle rather than audio, with an very through choreographed routine, it was different but you couldn’t but appreciate how much effort and practiced would have gone into a performance like this.

Neon Rodeo in Queer Town on the other side of the festival grounds were straight into their set, bringing a vibrant mix of country and indie pop into the space, each member had such an incredible look and their level of expression was beautiful within their personality and their sound and most importantly, you could see each member constantly interacting with each other, showing how much of a good time each of them was having.

Closing the first day of the festival was RAYE, an act that undeniably the entire audience was buzzing to see. Opening up the set with ‘Escapism’, one of her most well-known tracks, she took to the stage in a stunning outfit alongside her equally stunning band. Her raw vocal performance alongside her ability to command such a large crowd was admirable, taking time in between songs to interact with individual members of the audience holding up handmade signs.