Brighton & Hove Pride has locked in its full lineup for Pride on the Park 2026, and the bill is exactly as big as the occasion demands. The festival, running August 1st and 2nd at Preston Park, marks the organisation’s 35th anniversary, a milestone that has pulled in some of the most culturally resonant names available. Paris Hilton, Holly Johnson, Leigh-Anne, G Flip, and Moonchild Sanelly are the latest confirmed additions, joining previously announced headliners RAYE and Diana Ross across a weekend themed around The Power of Love.
RAYE, whose UK number one single ‘Where Is My Husband!’ landed in January 2026, heads Saturday’s main stage. She’s performed at Brighton Pride before, in 2018 and 2022, but this is her first time closing the day as headline act. Expect new material from her forthcoming sophomore album, ‘This Music May Contain Hope’, released March 27, alongside the hits that have made her one of the most compelling live performers in British pop. Diana Ross takes Sunday. This is her Brighton Pride debut and a UK festival exclusive, a career-spanning set from the Queen of Motown that will include ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, ‘I’m Coming Out’, and the songs that have meant everything to queer audiences for decades. It’s a booking with genuine weight.
The Legends, Icons, and Everyone In Between
Holly Johnson, the former Frankie Goes to Hollywood frontman and one of the first openly gay artists of the 1980s, holds the Legends slot. He fits the weekend’s theme without any forcing. Melanie C appears too, performing a DJ set rather than a live show. Jessie J, RuPaul, Self Esteem, and a reunited Five round out a main stage that moves between nostalgia and now with confidence. Paris Hilton, the original architect of early-internet celebrity culture, occupies the Sunday icon billing, a placement that reads as both sincere and knowing.
The dance arena has its own pull. The Blessed Madonna, HAAi, I.Jordan, Hannah Wants, Bimini, Daniel Avery, Patrick Mason, and Girls Don’t Sync join already-confirmed headliners Armand Van Helden and Purple Disco Machine. It’s a room that will stay full.
A 35-Year Story With More to Go
Brighton’s first Gay Pride event was held in 1973, organised by the Sussex Gay Liberation Front. The modern festival grew out of a different and more urgent moment: 1991, when the community mobilised in direct resistance to Section 28, Margaret Thatcher’s legislation that banned the so-called promotion of homosexuality in schools. More than 1.5 million pounds has since been raised for local LGBTQ+ charities, community groups, and projects through the organisation’s impact funds. The annual LGBTQ+ Community Parade opens the weekend.
Managing Director Paul Kemp said the anniversary carries a specific kind of feeling. “This year feels incredibly special as we celebrate 35 years of Brighton & Hove Pride,” he said. “We want to reflect on the journey since the early 90s, celebrate how far we’ve come as a community but also look ahead to the future and how far we’ve still to go. Let’s celebrate the power of love in all its forms, roll on August.”
The weekend is shaped by that history, even when it’s just a DJ set or a pop song. That’s the point.
