Organisers of Brighton and Hove Pride have apologised after festivalgoers described Saturday’s entry process as “claustrophobic” and “confusing.”
Thousands attended the city’s annual LGBTQIA+ celebration over the weekend, which featured high-profile performances from Mariah Carey, Fatboy Slim, Natalie Imbruglia, and the Sugababes.
However, many attendees heading to Pride on the Park and the Pride Village Party at Preston Park on Saturday experienced significant delays, with some reporting queue times of up to 90 minutes.
One user on X (formerly Twitter) commented:
“Absolutely appalling organisation this year. Spent an hour in the most claustrophobic and confusing queueing system, meaning we missed some artists!”
Another added:
“It was chaos. Surprised there wasn’t a riot as people were pushing against the barriers.”
In response, organisers issued a statement via X, saying:
“We are very sorry for the delays to entry at Pride on the Park and the Pride Street Party on Saturday and apologise for the longer-than-expected wait times.
We appreciate everyone’s patience on such a busy day. Queue arrangements have been improved for today’s [Sunday] events, and we look forward to welcoming everyone.
We’ve listened to your feedback and will be conducting a full review post-event to make further improvements for future years. We know we must do better.”
Despite the setbacks, the event remained a major highlight on the city’s cultural calendar, celebrating diversity, inclusion, and community spirit.
