Portsmouth has won the coveted bid to host UK Pride 2025, beating out more than 260 community run Pride organisations across the UK. The UK Pride Organisers Network (UKPON) announced that Portsmouth was chosen “with a strong majority”, an unprecedented honour that shines a national spotlight on the city’s LGBTQ+ community. This historic selection recognises Portsmouth Pride’s long standing role as a year round, volunteer driven movement. According to local organisers, the award is a chance “to put Portsmouth Pride on national display” and show off “what we do so well” as a free, community led festival.
Volunteer Powered, Free and Unfenced
What sets Portsmouth Pride apart is its ethos of accessibility. Unlike many larger parades, Portsmouth’s main Pride day is entirely volunteer run, completely free and unfenced. Portsmouth Pride Trust emphasises that its festival is organised by a local charity not a corporation and deliberately open to all ages. As Portsmouth Pride’s own press materials note, the main event on Southsea Common will “shine a national spotlight on the work of a volunteer run local charity organising one of the biggest, completely free and unfenced Pride events in the country”.Co chair CP Robinson sums up this unique model: “What we do is unique,” he told reporters, stressing that Portsmouth Pride is “fully volunteer run, fully community run, completely free and completely unfenced on a scale that nobody else does”. By keeping entry free and events unfenced, Portsmouth organisers say they can welcome the broadest possible audience and make Pride truly a community celebration.
Portsmouth Pride’s mission extends beyond one day. Organisers run a “year round programme of events” across the city from workshops to social clubs for everyone who lives, works or studies here. They note that the June festival is the culmination of that ongoing work. Robinson stresses that the UK Pride event is the visible product of “a year of work”, reflecting initiatives ranging from LGBTQ+ health outreach and sober social spaces to inclusive sports and HIV awareness programmes. In Robinson’s words, Portsmouth Pride aims “to show the rest of the city…this is our community, this is our work, this is what we do” turning one day of celebration into an opportunity to demonstrate a year’s worth of support for local people.
Southsea Common: The Day of Celebration
On Saturday, 7 June 2025 the focus turns to Southsea Common, where thousands are expected to gather for a day of music, speeches and community stalls. Even poor weather hasn’t dampened spirits: during the main day in previous years “thousands of people turned up at the main event, described as the focal point to the Pride season by UKPON”. The programme will feature two stages of entertainment, including headline performances by Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Kyran Thrax, alumni Victoria Scone and River Medway, plus celebrity guest Katie Price and Sabrina Washington of Mis-Teeq. With fun and feathers aplenty, organisers say the show is “open to everyone” the bigger the crowd, “the more people we can impact,” as Robinson notes .
Headline Acts and Community Pride
Headline performers will rock the main stage at Southsea Common. Nadine Coyle, known for her Girls Aloud hits, was announced as the lead act, promising an energetic set for thousands of fans. She will be joined by drag favourites from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK champion Kyran Thrax as well as series alumni Victoria Scone and River Medway ensuring a feast of camp and talent. TV personality Katie Price and R&B singer Sabrina Washington (formerly of Mis-Teeq) round out the top billing, along with dozens of local acts and DJs on community stages. These performances underscore that Portsmouth’s Pride is both a celebration of local creativity and a national event.
A Celebration for All
Portsmouth’s hosting of UK Pride 2025 is being framed as a joyful showcase of the city’s LGBT+ community and its allies. Organisers emphasise that Pride in Portsmouth is about more than a parade – it’s about celebrating how far the city has come and inviting everyone to join in. As CP Robinson reflects, Portsmouth’s Pride is “about saying to the rest of the city…and anyone else who wants to come this is us, this is our community, this is our work” . With its volunteer spirit and inclusive ethos, Portsmouth Pride 2025 promises to be a jubilant day of unity and visibility. The event will shine a national light on Portsmouth’s local efforts and send a message of welcome: in the words of the organisers, this Pride is for everyone, and it marks the culmination of a year’s worth of community pride and support.
Check out our other post about Portsmouth Pride 2025 Here!