The price of tickets to attend Birmingham Pride are cheaper this year than last as organisers work to make it more accessible for visitors.
Weekend tickets to the annual event, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2027, are priced at £46.87 this year, down from the £73.70 they cost in 2025.
The even takes place on Saturday, May 23, and Sunday, May 24 and organisers say that the prices have been lowered to make the event more accessible to Brummies that are feeling the effects of the cost of living crisis.
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The two-day event will begin with a free parade through the city centre that sets off from Victoria Square at 12pm, giving tens of thousands of participants and spectators the chance to join in with the celebration before it arrives at the LGBTQ+ village for two days of performances and parties.
Performers on the line-up include Katy B, Sigala, Nadine of Girls Aloud fame, Bjorn Again, Boney M ft Maizie Williams and Danny Beard.
There’ll be a main stage, a dance arena and cabaret marquee. This year, the festival site will take up part of the Smithfield Development and a number of participating venues in the village.
READ MORE: Stunning Birmingham Pride 2025 pictures as celebrations kick off in city centre
Birmingham Pride has a low income ticket scheme whereby the community contributes to subsidising half price tickets for those in the community who might otherwise struggle to attend – more on that here.
Pride events around the country have been cancelled in recent years due to financial pressures.
Last year, Liverpool Pride was rescued at the 11th hour after a charity stepped in to get the cancelled event back on track.
The charity behind Manchester Pride fell into liquidation last year too and will go ahead in 2026 under new management.
Bridlington, Malvern and Calderdale won’t have festivals this year at all following cancellations.
Festival director Lawrence Barton says that lowering prices was important to keep Birmingham’s celebration possible.
“The main thought about lowering the cost was making it more accessible to people who have less money in their pocket,” he told BirminghamLive.
“Pride attendance is down across the nation, all major Prides are seeing a reduced attendance so this will make it more affordable for people.
“We wanted to bring Pride back to the heart of the community.”
Lawrence said there were worries over whether Pride could stay in the LGBTQ+ village this year.
Lawrence Barton looks out over the LGBTQ+ village(Image: BirminghamLive)
“At first we didn’t think we’d be able to use the Smithfield site and so we had to adapt the model because we didn’t want to take Pride out of the city,” he said.
“We have been asking for a permanent home, I’ve been trying to leverage that with the council for a long time, without any success.
“Pride does have a choice. In 2006 we took it to Cannon Hill Park. It was rained off that year but since then, the idea of taking it out of the Gay Village doesn’t sit well with many people. It should be in the city.
“We found a piece of land opposite The Fox, and the developers said we could use it. It would have been perfect. But then we were told that we couldn’t.
“They said it might affect planning. I said we’d hand it back in perfect condition in the space of two weeks but it was a no.
“We wanted to use Sherlock Street but couldn’t because of the residents and the Custard Factory.
“The council said we could use part of Smithfield but they want to charge us £27,000.
“This year we’re charging a third less than we have previously, all other costs have gone up and now it’s just another bill.
“The council doesn’t sponsor the event, it charges us for the clean-up, road closures, parking suspension. They make money out of Pride.
“It is what it is, but it shows how precarious our situation is.”
Lawrence said that it meant ‘scaling’ would need to happen to keep costs down.
“We have all seen the cost of utilities rise, electrics, using a generator, putting screens up, production, stages, lighting, security, all of those costs have increased and people have got less money. There is a scaling that has to happen.
“While you want to use the best staging, the best infrastructure, we’re reducing ticket prices. In the past, we’ve had major artists playing, and this year we haven’t necessarily got huge stars but we’ve instead put the focus on community and accessibility.
“We know we’ll turn over less money. We’ve got less money so we can’t have the posher stage, we can’t have it all roads.”
Lawrence Barton says he may hand over the baton as Pride director in 2027(Image: BirminghamLive)
Lawrence hopes to have a free Pride festival in 2027 but there are important factors to consider.
“If we want a free festival we’ll be even more reliant on local talent, which all has its merits, but it’s all a challenge.
“How do we pay for the security bill? How do we keep people safe? There’s a cost to that that someone has to pick up.”
The option is not always sponsorship, Lawrence says, due to conflicting ethics.
“Some businesses want to truly champion our rights, freedoms and equality and those who are seen to just ‘pink wash’,” he said.
“Ethical sponsorships are important and we have to strike that balance.
“What it creates is a complexity of being able to put on a Pride, with a stage, infrastructure, artists, lighting, sound, screens, good security and catering facilities but you’ve got the cost of living crisis.
“We’re in a vortex at the moment of rising costs, there’s a war that impacts how much it costs for people to even travel to Birmingham. It’s not easy.”
Pride is likely to continue to evolve into its 30th year next year too.
“The bottom line is, Birmingham Pride is a not-for-profit organisation,” said Lawrence.
“We’ve made money for charities each year. But the balance between presenting Pride, being able to afford to present it, and to take on the many, very strong voices of those who have opinions on how Pride should be, is sometimes an overwhelming challenge.”
The hope is for Pride to be free in 2026. We’ll share more on that as we get it.
Tickets to this year’s event are on sale now.
