horse meat disco’s guide to pride

With Brighton Pride just round the corner, we caught up with James Hillard, co-founder of magnificent party-starting DJ collective Horse Meat Disco, (and second from left in the pic!) to give us the lowdown on the UK’s biggest Pride festival. Over to you, James!

I love Brighton Pride because…
Brighton Pride has been the premier pride event in the UK for a long time. London lost its sparkle a while ago although reports from this year give me some hope for future Pride events there. The key to any successful Pride event is to really involve the whole city and that’s what’s so special about Brighton Pride – the city shows up and shows out. It’s that inclusivity that Pride should always be about.

If you want to get the best out of Pride…
Do…

  • Go with the flow
  • Dance like no-one’s watching
  • Go and show your support to all the colours of the rainbow. It’s not just gay Pride, so make sure you stand in solidarity with our trans brothers and sisters as well as our QPOC [Queer People of Colour] friends
  • Be respectful
  • Recognise all those who came before you who have fought for your rights and your acceptance

Don’t…

  • Be an asshole

This Brighton Pride…
I’m not going to lie, the live act line-up [Britney Spears, Ella Eyre and Pixie Lott are all on the bill] isn’t rocking my world, but the rest of Pride looks fan-bloody-tastic with the Legends cabaret tent and the urban world area where I’ll be parking up and setting up shop for most of the day.

I’m looking forward to…
Drag, drag and more drag! I don’t think he’s playing in Brighton this year, but Le Gateau Chocolat is a local Brighton legend who always rocks my world. [Look out for our special Pride weekend guide for details of who to see.]

My top pick outside the main festival at Preston Park is…
Obviously Horse Meat Disco at Patterns on the Saturday night!

I’ll be recovering with…
5-HTP and a bona brunch.

These are the tunes I’ll be listening to in the run-up to Pride…

 Horse Meat Disco next DJ at Patterns for the official Brighton Pride after-party on Saturday 4th August and, if you’re in London on a Sunday, you can catch them at their weekly residency at Eagle London. They’ll be back in Brighton for Halloween for a very special party at Patterns on 27th October.