Your Go-To Guide for Pride in London

Looking for a Pride celebration that links history with modernity in a global city? Look no further! Pride in London has everything you’re looking for. Celebrating its 46th year, London’s Pride is one of the oldest in the world, and is the biggest in the UK, bringing over one million visitors to the streets to celebrate our identities and focus on the work that remains to be done.

And celebrate we will! With programming from a parade to an enormous festival to a talent show to celebrate LGBT creativity, London Pride is truly one of a kind!

The London Pride Festival, which runs for almost a full month (June 9—July 7), offers a veritable smorgasbord of activities for everyone, many of which are free. Work out your grey matter with an LGBT night in an escape room, learn more about religion during panel discussions on faith, get creative with figure drawing classes, learn self-defense and brush up on your boxing, and get cultured with queer nights at the Tate and LGBT-themed tours of the Victoria and Albert Museum. No matter your persuasion, the Pride Festival has something for everyone!

Keep an eye out on Saturday, July 7 for the world-famous Pride in London Parade, which kicks off at noon and winds its way through the streets of the lively gayborhood Soho. Floats of every color of the rainbow—representing community organizations alongside billion-dollar corporations—will drive past screaming crowds to show just how far we’ve come.

In addition to all the partying, London Pride is not afraid to embrace its political roots. In April, Pride Leaders decried the LGBT genocide currently taking place in Chechnya. In a letter to the UK’s Foreign secretary, they write, "Pride in London would urge the UK Government to take meaningful steps to assist the LGBT+ community in Chechnya and to offer protection and support to what amounts to state sponsored genocide." In this way, supporting London Pride (organized by an NGO staffed by volunteers) is another form of activism.

If the amazing Pride events haven’t already convinced you to skip across the pond, the city of London has so much to offer, you’d be a fool not to visit!

A center for artifacts and art

If you’re aiming to get cultured, London has what you need. The British Museum—which is free for all visitors—offers over 8 million artifacts from all over the world, tracing human history from the Neolithic to the present, and representing every corner of the globe. Of course, the museum has come under fire after their repeated refusals to repatriate works of art that were obtained from Britain’s colonial holdings through coercion or downright theft. Morally questionable or not, it’s a pleasure to look at! Also don’t miss the world-class collection of modern art at the Tate Modern, or satisfy your whimsical side at a veritable cabinet of curiosities, the Wellcome Collection (which is also free!). Also check out the Victoria and Albert Museum, the world’s largest museum of decorative arts.

An alternative scene not to be missed

Known as the birthplace of punk, London remains a mecca for all things eccentric and queer. And while things are changing, there’s still a thriving alternative subculture in London. This is the birthplace of the Sex Pistols to Boy George, for God’s sake! Though rapidly gentrifying, the neighborhood of Camden is still a great place to catch alternative gig. With one of the most rapidly evolving queer scenes in the world, there’s so much to discover!

A hub of culture and monuments

London calls to mind images of rococo stone and rich interiors for a reason. If you’re of the decorative persuasion, you’ll love a visit to Buckingham Palace, as well as the gothic masterpiece of the Palace of Westminster, home of the "Big Ben" clock and tower. If you want to get acquainted with the sordid side of London history, check out the Tower of London, where you can learn as much about of ravens, executions, and torture as you can handle. And, while you’re time-traveling, you may as well watch a play at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, where standing (“groundling”) tickets can cost as little as five pounds.