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Published: November 6th 2006
Matt, Chris and me
So innocent and sweet... Ed:
Matt once told me Brighton was the quintessential summer spot for Londoners escaping the city for some surf and sun, but having experienced it only in the middle of winter back in 2001, it was hard to imagine that this quiet seaside town could turn into a hot spot that would rival Rio during Carnival.
Our friend Christopher was arriving on Friday, so we decided not to plan anything major for the weekend and let him settle in. However, when Kathryn and Kelly informed us the evening Chris arrived that they were heading to Brighton the following day for Gay Pride, it was an adventure too hard to resist.
So the following morning, with packed sandwiches we took the train down to Brighton. None of us had any idea where to exactly head, but soon discovered it wouldn’t be a problem as all we had to do was follow the droves of people wearing feather boas and very little else. Along for day we were also joined by Kristen, Fran and a couple of their friends, who were a little more organised and actually managed to get to Brighton in time for catch the floats and parade.
As we arrived too late for the parade we made our way straight to Preston Park where the parade was due to finish. The park was set up not too dissimilar to Fair Day in Victoria Park in Sydney, with hundreds of stall selling everything from herbal ecstasy to porn. There were also a couple of huge tents set up for the dance party (more on that later).
So, with picnic in one hand and a couple of bottles of vodka on the other, we found a perfect little spot under a tree where could catch most of the action as the droves of drag queens and marching boys paraded through. Within 30 minutes the whole parade had descended upon us, along with 120 thousand spectators. It was a Mecca of colour, nationalities, glitter and chiffon. It was madness.
It wasn’t long before the alcohol kicked in and the debauchery began. After we’d sang our hearts out at a Karaoke booth, we all headed to one of the dancing tents where we suspiciously lost Christopher for 2 hours. Funnily enough we’d left him kissing one guy and later saw him in the arms of another! It’s been
a while since I was a dance party, but I guess some things never change. There were hundred of buff men with very little on sniffing amyl and popping pills (not that we do any stuff mum!) and very hungry eyes! It was so seedy! By the end we thought we'd completely lost Christopher, but luckily by the time everyone had left we spotted him on his own kicking a can!
Exhausted from dancing for hours, we all headed to Brighton beach and laid on the pebbles (which is not very comfortable without those deckchairs!) before catching the last train back to London. If anyone finds themselves in the vicinity next year, I highly recommend you make your way to this cute seaside town during Pride!
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Mum McCarron
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Sandwiches
Ha ! Don't believe for one minute you packed sandwiches. Mum XXX