Following an all-agency meeting at City Hall, the officials behind Pride London and WorldPride have confirmed that there will be no floats or vehicles and the ‘parade’ will be scaled down to a ‘procession’ due to a funding crisis.
Walking groups will replace the floats and will begin earlier than planned, at 11am.
Organisations and companies paid £2,500 to have a float in the WorldPride parade, with Smirnoff reportedly shelling out thousands of pounds on the design of their float.
Pride organisers have responded to criticism by saying: “Each and every year, Pride London needs to achieve some serious commercial targets to fund the event – and this year, targets are even higher than before, because of increased cost, the sheer scale of the planned event and mounting pressure to deliver a “world class” event. To a backdrop of a more difficult economic climate and tough sponsorship calls considering everything that is happening in London this year, fundraising from both corporates and from within the community has been more challenging than ever. Despite creating a strong sponsorship base for this year’s planned event, there is, in the week leading up to the 7th of July, still a shortfall.”
With all eyes on London as the host of WorldPride, There will be no planned WorldPride events in Soho, and the celebrations in Trafalgar square will be cut back. Organisers have also had to cancel a party in Golden Square.
Whilst World Pride will have no official activities in Soho, we do expect the day’s celebrations to continue and for Soho to be very busy.
