Pride in London cancelled because of Covid restrictions

‘This goes against everything that we want Pride in London to be,’ says organiser

Pride in London had been expected to draw tens of thousands of people (AFP via Getty Images)

This year’s Pride in London parade has been cancelled because of social-distancing measures, organisers have announced.

More than 35,000 people had been expected to attend the flagship LGBT+ event, which had been postponed from June to 11 September.

Executive director Christopher Joell-Deshields said risk assessments had shown the parade could not be held while meeting government guidelines.

In an announcement on YouTube, he said: “Pride, like all other major events, has faced constant challenges with regards to safely holding one of the largest events in the capital.

“I’m truly saddened to say that Pride in London won’t be happening this year.”

He said navigating the government’s new coronavirus guidelines had been challenging, adding: “It became clear, when working through final risk assessments, that our event could not provide the level of mitigation expected from the local public health team and the government.

It would have meant losing the crucial parade, reducing the event to just two or three stages scattered across central London with limited tickets, he said.

“This goes against everything that we want Pride in London to be or that we’ve been so far. No parade, no protest, means no Pride.”

The team agreed public health was the priority, he said, but they were about to start planning for next year’s event.

He also asked the government to declare next year “the year of queer”.