Celebcity: Paloma Faith & Alison Moyet

Paloma Faith & Alison Moyet perform, as Marilyn Monroe, Freddie Mercury & more are celebrated at Brighton Pride 2013

Making Brighton proud!

Saturday 3 August was a day like no other in the city as we took our place alongside 100,000 people to witness not only the fabulousness of our LGBT community but also to recognise their ongoing global campaign for equality. We were lucky enough to work with the Pride team and have a ring-side seat for the proudest day on the calendar.

The day started with a hearty breakfast at the Hilton Brighton Metropole attended by sponsors and partners and possibly the biggest gay icon of all time: Marilyn Monroe!
(well, that’s what she said – who are we to question otherwise?). David Hill, chairman of Pride, gave a rousing speech and we also heard from John Forrest Ales, VP of Brand PR at Hilton Worldwide, who had just flown in from Virginia to support the Hilton’s sponsorship of Pride. We all boarded the open-top Pride bus to Madeira Drive which was swimming with people dressed up as their favourite gay icons; from Freddie Mercury to Lady Gaga, Judy Garland to Madonna, Brighton had it all! With around 60 floats taking part in the parade it certainly was a spectacle, all singing, all dancing, all everything!

Brighton Pride not only offered the most spectacular parade this year but it also boasted one of the best showbiz line-ups at the park.

The main stage saw acts like Alison Moyet, Ms Dynamite and MKS (the original sugababes, don’t ya know?) perform. The brilliant Paloma Faith took to the stage for her DJ set for the finale and whipped up the crowd a treat.

Lisa and Emma in the office are big fans so loved it when they got to have a chat with Paloma backstage after her set. The park was buzzing as Paloma walked on to the stage dressed as her gay icon: Marilyn Monroe. Paloma’s dj set consisted of old school tunes and disco hits that had us dancing on the spot.

MKS sung their latest single, ‘Flatlines’, and looked thrilled to be back together and performing live in front of a very captive audience. Juice FM’s Guy Lloyd was lucky enough to grab a snap with the newly reformed band as he presented the backstage coverage for Latest TV, the BBC and for the Official Pride film.

All in all, Pride 2013 was an amazing day; great crowds, amazing parade and a festival to end all festivals! We loved being part of such a successful day and look forward to next year’s – and the celebrity acts it may bring with it! Paul, David, Dulcie, Phil, Chris and team; we salute you!

Images: ©Chris Jepson/courtesy of JBPR
Jo Brooks is director of Brighton-based PR company JBPR Ltd, 01273 622555, www.jb-pr.com
Send celebrity spots, gossip and pictures to job@jb-pr.com