London Pride 2024: Parade, Dates, Events

London is renowned for its vibrant LGBTQIA+ scene, offering a diverse range of events, bars, and clubs that cater to all identities and expressions. The city hosts several Pride festivals, including the iconic London Pride, which attracts over 1.5 million visitors each year.

London's LGBTQIA+ scene is an important part of the city's cultural identity and attracts visitors from all over the world. If you’re planning on coming to London Pride, and need to know more about the London Pride events and dates, this guide has you covered. Plus, we’ll cover how using a Wise card to spend while you’re in London can be a safe and low cost way to cover your trip.

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When is London Pride?

London Pride dates for 2024 have been confirmed to be Saturday June 29, 2024.

London Pride² is an annual event celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community, featuring a parade, performances, and other events throughout the city. In 2023, over 1.5 million people got involved across events on 5 central London stages - with even more promised for 2024.

Where does the London Pride Parade start?

The London parade will start at Hyde Park corner and end at Whitehall Place³. Interactive maps are available over on the Pride in London website.

What time does the London Pride Parade start?

Generally, the parade starts about midday, although full details of the event may not be available until closer to the time.

Pride Events in London

While the parade is the colourful cornerstone of Pride in London, there are plenty of other London pride events going on, too. Let’s take a look at what you can expect for 2024.

Official London Pride Event

The London Pride Parade is open to everyone who supports the LGBTQIA+ community. Participants include individuals, organisations, and businesses, who come together to celebrate diversity and equality. If you’re interested in joining, you can apply as a group or an individual - or you can simply pick a spot to watch the colourful parade as it passes through central London. There’s even an option to get Parade Grandstand tickets so you can see everything clearly in comfort - if you’re planning on using the Grandstand you’ll need to get a ticket in advance, with seating available from 11:30am on the day⁴.

As the entire event is primarily organised by volunteers, you can also support by acting as a volunteer steward - with such a large event, about 1,000 stewards are needed to keep everything running smoothly.

More details of the planned events are being released, so watch the Pride in London website, and other handy resources like the Time Out - Pride in London pages to learn more as details become available.

Dean Street Stage (Soho)

Entertainment is plentiful on the day of the parade, with several stages across London, including over in Soho on Dean street. The line up hasn’t been released at the time of writing, but generally you can expect to see acts including Pride’s Got Talent⁵ acts, covering cabaret, music and more. Keep an eye on the official Pride website for updates as acts are announced.

Golden Square - Out With The Family Rainbow Fete

While details aren’t yet fully announced, the Golden Square Out With The Family Rainbow Fete generally offers a relaxed and family friendly space to enjoy the Pride party. This can be handy if you’re looking for somewhere a little quieter than the main parade route.

The Big Pride Picnic (July 2nd)

In Vauxhall on Sunday July 2nd the party continues with the Big Pride Picnic in the park. There’s usually lots going on for everyone, including sports in the morning, with music and shows in the afternoon and on into the evening.

LGBTQIA+ Bars London

Coming to London for Pride? Let’s look at some great places to eat, drink and enjoy. Popular destinations include Soho, known for its inclusive bars and nightclubs, and Vauxhall, home to some of the biggest gay clubs in Europe. London also has a thriving drag scene, with many venues hosting regular drag shows featuring local and international performers. Here are a few to check out.

Heaven

Heaven⁶ has been brightening London’s club and live music scene since right back in 1979. Over 1,500 people can pack in on a club night, and there have been some truly memorable performances over the years, from some huge names. Perfect for your trip to Pride London.

G-A-Y/ GAY LATE

Now associated with Heaven, another top Soho pick could be G-A-Y⁶. Check out the listings for club nights, and live performances from up and coming bands and established names alike.

SHE Soho

Lesbian bar SHE Soho is a chic and modern women-priority venue, with cabaret, drag king shows, burlesque and DJ sets.

Dalston Superstore

Out in Dalston in East London, Dalston Superstore⁷ has a varied calendar of events, including drag brunches, art, music, club nights and more.

Two Brewers Clapham North

Two Brewers⁸ has drag cabaret on nightly, offering plenty of fun, with late opening and a friendly vibe. It’s been around since 1981, making it one of the most established and iconic LGBTQIA+ venues in London.

Recommended Restaurants London

You’re headed to London? You need to eat. Here’s a few top suggestions to check out.

Four Seasons - Chinatown

There are 3 Four Seasons⁹ locations, but we’ve picked this one as it’s been voted the best duck in the world. If you fancy Chinese flavours, with a wide ranging menu and great reputation for quality, check this venue out. For their iconic duck you’re looking at about 17 GBP for a quarter - with plenty of other dishes to choose from at a mid-range price point, too.

Skylight Peckham

If you’re looking for a place to relax in a chilled atmosphere, Skylight¹⁰ might be for you. You can hot desk if you need to cover a bit of work while you're in town for Pride - or head there for the evening for DJ sessions and live music if you’re off duty. Reasonable prices for food, with a great selection of small plates if you want to share with friends.

Drag and Waffle - Drag Brunch

Want to keep the Pride party going into the Sunday - take a look at the Queen of Hoxton’s Drag & Waffle¹¹ bottomless brunch. Live drag performance paired with bottomless fizz and non-stop waffles, to set you up for the day ahead. Tickets are 50 GBP per person.

Public Transport in London

Public transport in London includes the London underground (tube), buses, and even river services. Usually, the underground or bus network is the best place to start, with fairly extensive coverage and late services available. You can pay in advance by buying a paper ticket at a train station - including day or week passes - or use a card to tap in and out on transport. You’ll be able to buy a travel card - known as an Oyster Card - which you can top up and use for transport costs, but the easiest way is usually to simply tap in and out with any contactless payment card¹².

Using contactless to tap in and out is convenient, and most cards on Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Maestro networks are supported. One thing to remember is that if you’re from overseas and your card imposes a foreign transaction fee when spending in a foreign currency, this will apply when you tap to pay. Avoid this by getting a Wise card in advance, to top up and spend with no foreign transaction fee to worry about. More on that later.

Public transport journey planning and airport connections

It’s easy to plan your journeys in London, either with a simple app like Google Maps, or the Transport for London¹³ journey planner tool. Enter your start and end points to check out different options across the public transport network, so you can pick the one that suits you.

If you need to get to central London from one of the major airports, you’re covered by public transport options, too¹⁴. For Heathrow for example, you can take the tube (Piccadilly Line) to be central in about 50 minutes, or you can go by rail (Elizabeth Line), with journey times of 30 to 45 minutes depending on which station you’re heading to.

London Stays

London is an enormous place with a thriving tourism industry. That means there’s plenty of options for places to stay, whether you’re after something central for convenience, or sticking to a tighter budget and considering something a little further out. Starting on an umbrella site like Booking.com is a good way to get a feel for the options - or take recommendations from friends to find something that suits your style.

Looking for inspiration to start you off?/ If you’re looking for something quirky, check out AirBnB¹⁵ for some varied options in London on a nightly or weekly basis. And if your budget is on the tight side, why not try a hostel? There are plenty of private hostels, and the Youth Hostel Association¹⁶ (YHA) has hostels in central London locations which are very handy for getting to all the action over the Pride weekend. On the flipside, if you’re looking to splurge and want to be right in the heart of the action, check out Z Hotel Soho¹⁷ for a sleek and modern place which could not be better located.

Using Wise During Pride

Using a Wise card to pay for transport, accommodation, cash withdrawals and more, can mean your money goes further over Pride, with no foreign transaction fees to pay, and low currency conversion fees from 0.41%¹⁸. Order your Wise card online before you travel, and get great perks including some fee free cash withdrawals, and options to hold and exchange GBP and 40+ other currencies.

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Wise will not charge you for these withdrawals, but some additional charges may occur from independent ATM networks.

Using your Wise card over Pride weekend? Don’t let a lost card dampen your celebrations. Just get a Wise digital card for free, add to Google Pay or Apple Pay, and you don’t need to carry the physical card at all. You’ll also get instant transaction notifications and can freeze and unfreeze the card in the Wise app - making this a secure and convenient way to cover your costs over Pride.

Pride in London is one of the biggest festivals in the calendar, with millions of people getting in on the action to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. While the full event details for 2023 are still being released, it’s sure to be as big, bold and brilliant as ever, with the parade, parties, picnics and more. Use this guide to start your London Pride 2023 planning, and don’t forget to get a Wise card too, to avoid foreign transaction fees while you’re in London.

Sources used:

Sources Last checked: 31.05.23