Brighton Pride revellers say they are ‘dancing the day away’

Brighton Pride has kicked off for its 35th anniversary, and hundreds of thousands of people are expected in the city over the weekend.

Speaking to BBC Radio Sussex before the start of the parade, Jack Goddard, from the LGBTQ+ choir Rainbow Chorus, said it was a “joyous… celebration”.

“We’re going to be dancing the day away,” he continued. “It’s going to be brilliant.”

Pride has previously been criticised as having become a “massive money-making exercise” that “doesn’t necessarily feel like a space for the LGBT community anymore”.

Ahead of the event, which started at 11:00 BST, Regan Burree, who works for Greater Thameslink Railways, told the BBC that Pride was important.

“Particularly coming from the railway, it’s such a male-dominated environment, or perceived to be, but actually that’s not the case anymore,” she said.

“It’s so diverse now – this is us all celebrating it here.”